GSM (i.e. Your Cell Phone) has been cracked!

There are days when it pays to be telephobic. I am one of those people who will tend to reply to a phone call with an e-mail, a text message, a tweet, a face-to-face drop-by - anything to avoid having to actually use a telephone. But at the same time, I rely heavily on my iPhone to stay connected, and use it for both casual web browsing AND for doing eCommerce transactions.

It turns out that a group of hackers has hacked the most common cell phone system in the world - GSM and has released the results of the hack into the wild. This means anyone with a radio card, a laptop, and a little know-how can listen in on the cell phone calls of anyone on T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless, and many other providers (Sprint and Verizon use a competing standard called CDMA and are unaffected).

This is potentially a business-killer for GSM cellular companies, especially those who sell to businesses and government users. It is likely well be seeing firmware updates shortly to address the security hole. Or else the cell companies will try to use it as an excuse to make you pay for a new phone and re-up your contract.

Finally, an FM transmitter for iPhone without the GSM interference!

My Pontiac Vibe's radio has no "aux in" or iPod connector, so I have to stream my iPhone music to it via an FM transmitter. The one I have works fine, but as with all such devices I have to put up with GSM interference when the iPhone "phones home" to check for voice messages, etc. Finally, someone is coming out with a device that filters out the interference and will allow a full iPhone transmitting experience.

Of course having an Aux In or iPod Connector in your car is a better solution, but I don't want to spend several hundred dollars on a replacement radio or several thousand on a new car. And I am no audiophile.