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Comment by mstef | Hacker News Reader

author of the break here, ama.

I'm curious whether there is any info on the dev team who created the PX-1000 (where PC-1000Cr is implemented). Any more info on how the NSA got a backdoor inserted? There's [1] which gives a general overview.

This seems like a fascinating story, would be happy to read more!

[1] https://www.cryptomuseum.com/crypto/philips/px1000/nsa.htm

afaik the firmware was developed by philips ufsa[1] based on directions (test vectors?) by the NSA, lots of effort was put into making the algo run efficiently on the CPU in the px1000.

[1] https://www.cryptomuseum.com/crypto/philips/usfa.htm

also interesting might be this generic link unrelated to the NSA backdoor: https://cryptomuseum.com/crypto/philips/px1000/

A few of us have bought rebadged versions of these recently and we're looking to create a backend for them that accepts a call (probably via SIP / VoIP) and then demodulates the v.23 and does something useful with it.

Are you aware of anyone thats done this already? We're not desperate to support the encryption initially but I guess it would be nice too.

Thanks

sorry, no. but there is an emulator[1], so you can test the roms, or you can write your own code and test it without having the hw.

[1] https://github.com/iddq/sim68xx/tree/px1000

Nice, thanks

The SpanDSP library has low-speed FSK modem implementations (including Bell 202 and V.23). I've employed the 202 demodulator to listen in to some radio-based telemetry.

https://github.com/freeswitch/spandsp

What the heck is PX1000Cr???

I’ve been in tech for decades and have never heard of this. The link offers no actual explanation. Could you supply some background?

Edit: found this https://www.cryptomuseum.com/crypto/philips/px1000/nsa.htm

Ever heard of TRS-80 Model 100? Same thing, slightly different Japanese OEM.

The Model 100 is a completely different kind of device than the pocket telex.

How is it completely different kind of device? A completely different kind of mobile terminal with build in modem based on Japanese platform? PX1000 looks to be further evolution of Epson HX-20 design. With PX-2000 Philips didnt even try to manufacture locally anymore deferring to Seiko entirely. Or did you mean detailed architecture details, lcd, cpu arch and different OEM Kyocera?

I've got a pair of these somewhere, acquired domestically (USA) AFAIR. Assuming these are crypto-enabled, any easy way to tell what firmware is in them?

Edit: These are Text-Tells.

see the section "Different Versions" on this page: https://cryptomuseum.com/crypto/philips/px1000/

Cool job, that brought back a lot of memories.

How do we know it's a backdoor and not a technical error?

if you read the linked page, you will see the story and how the nsa replaced the DES algorithm with a completely new algorithm.

I slipped and accidentally leaked plaintext in the crypto stream!

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