Frank A. Stevenson

Frank A. Stevenson (born 1970) is a Norwegian software developer, and part-time cryptanalyst. He is primarily known for his exposition of weaknesses in the DVD Forum's Content Scramble System (CSS).^[1] Although the cryptoanalysis was done independently, he is known for his relations to DeCSS,^[2] and appeared before the courts as a witness in the Jon Johansen court trial. He also gave a deposition for the DVD CCA v. McLaughlin, Bunner, et al. case.

Stevenson worked for Funcom as a game developer for many years, after which he moved to Kvaleberg to work on mobile phone software. In July 2010, Stevenson published information about vulnerabilities in the A5/1 encryption algorithm used by most 2G GSM networks, and also showed the Kraken software, that demonstrates that the crypto indeed can be broken with modest hardware.^[3]

Games credited

Stevenson has been credited with the following video games:^[4]

• Anarchy Online: Alien Invasion (2004), Funcom Oslo A/S
• Anarchy Online (2001), Funcom Oslo A/S
• Anarchy Online: The Notum Wars (2001), KOCH Media Deutschland GmbH
• The Longest Journey (1999), IQ Media Nordic
• Dragonheart: Fire & Steel (1996), Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.
• Winter Gold (1996), Nintendo Co., Ltd.

See also

• Cryptography
• Cryptology
• DeCSS

References

1. Frank Stevenson's CSS Cracks - A compilation of links relating to Stevenson's CSS analysis
2. CSS cryptoanalysis
3. New 'Kraken' GSM-cracking software is released, Computerworld, July 21, 2010.
4. "Frank Andrew Stevensen Video Game Credits and Biography".