SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. will allow free use of its SOBER and Turing encryption algorithms for any purpose, in a break from past practice, which provided the software only to the company’s licensed manufacturers or for noncommercial use.
“Encryption technology protects our wireless networks and enables operators to ensure that all cell phones are secure. However, the value of the technology is limited unless it is used,” said Greg Rose, vice president of technology.
Qualcomm recently received a patent covering the SOBER cipher and its descendants, including the new encryption algorithm, Turing, named after Alan Turing, a mathematician who made significant contributions to England’s code-breaking efforts during World War II.
“Turing and the SOBER family are high-speed, highly secure stream ciphers and are thought to be immune to any cryptanalytic attacks,” Qualcomm said.
“(They) can be much more efficient that common block ciphers . and can mean lower cost of hardware implementation or, at times, the choice to use a software implementation instead.”
