A guide to secure wireless systems

WHY IS ENCRYPTION NEEDED?

WHO NEEDS ENCRYPTION?

THE COMPANIES
Swedish companies have secrets and unique knowledge that they don't want to leak. But every day, they put themselves at risk in conference centers, venues and similar places by using unencrypted wireless systems, which can be intercepted by anyone. Even in their own offices.

GOVERNMENT AND DEFENSE
The external environment is worse than it has been for a long time. External actors are constantly looking for information from and about the Swedish state and its branches. Security is therefore of the utmost importance! If you supply technology to this type of customer, whether it is for permanent installations or single events, you should investigate whether encryption is required for each assignment.

THE JOURNALIST
You've just had your dream interview with a former leader of a criminal gang. But the risk that what he says could hurt him is high. In journalism, information security can be the difference between life and death! With encryption, you can guarantee that only those who need to hear can hear. That's a strong argument for getting the interviews you want.

MEDIA AND BROADCASTING
Whether it's a political debate or a competition program where the name of the winner or the participants must not be leaked, there is only one solution to avoid being overheard - encryption.

LIVE MUSIC
Bootlegs are an old classic industry, unencrypted wireless systems are very easy to track and record, maybe someone is sitting outside your rehearsal room, or listening to what you are talking about before or after a concert. So if you want to own what is published, encryption is a given.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

There is one criterion for encrypting a wireless system at all. It must be digital. The audio coming into the transmitter goes through an encryption algorithm and out comes a collection of ones and zeros that cannot get any information out - unless you have the key. That key is stored in the transmitter and receiver and it allows them to decrypt the seemingly randomized stream of ones and zeros into sound again.

KEY POLICIES - WHAT ARE THEY?

Key policies are different ways that a wireless system manages the encryption keys. The most common is a so-called universal policy. In this case, all devices of a certain brand have a factory-programmed key and you only need to turn on encryption on the device for the audio stream to be encrypted.

SHARED, STANDARD AND VOLATILE

Lectrosonics doesn't stop at universal, it has three other policies - Shared, Standard and Volatile.

Shared means that you generate a unique key for your system. All devices in the system can share this with each other, which means that anyone intercepting such a system will need to know that specific key. On the other hand, it makes it easy in a larger production to distribute the key.

Standard means that a key is specific to a channel. It can only be shared once, to a transmitter or receiver. This increases security significantly.

Volatile is the highest level of encryption. It means using a channel-specific key for each power cycle. If you turn off the transmitter or receiver, the key is discarded and a new one must be generated.

WHAT PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS ARE AVAILABLE?

All Lectrosonics digital products can be encrypted. It is a simple menu choice and does not affect latency or sound quality in any way. They are then encrypted with an AES256 encryption, which is a military grade encryption and is used in virtually all activities with sensitive information today.

Sounddevices wireless products are encrypted with an AES128 encryption and protected by a four-digit pin code. Again, latency and sound quality are not affected.

WANT TO KNOW MORE? CONTACT US!

Phone: 08-564 817 70
Order: sales@visono.se