Interesting research on a version of RSA that is secure against a quantum computer: Post-quantum RSA Daniel J. Bernstein, Nadia Heninger, Paul Lou, and Luke Valenta Abstract: This paper proposes RSA parameters for which (1) key generation, encryption, decryption, signing, and verification are feasible on today’s computers while (2) all known attacks are infeasible, even … Read More “Post-Quantum RSA” »
Month: May 2017
This is kind of amazing: Inmates at a medium-security Ohio prison secretly assembled two functioning computers, hid them in the ceiling, and connected them to the Marion Correctional Institution’s network. The hard drives were loaded with pornography, a Windows proxy server, VPN, VOIP and anti-virus software, the Tor browser, password hacking and e-mail spamming tools, … Read More “Inmates Secretly Build and Network Computers while in Prison” »
In 2013, a mysterious group of hackers that calls itself the Shadow Brokers stole a few disks full of NSA secrets. Since last summer, they’ve been dumping these secrets on the Internet. They have publicly embarrassed the NSA and damaged its intelligence-gathering capabilities, while at the same time have put sophisticated cyberweapons in the hands … Read More “Who Are the Shadow Brokers?” »
Last year, I wrote about the potential for doxers to alter documents before they leaked them. It was a theoretical threat when I wrote it, but now Citizen Lab has documented this technique in the wild: This report describes an extensive Russia-linked phishing and disinformation campaign. It provides evidence of how documents stolen from a … Read More “Tainted Leaks” »
The excellent Montreal chef Marc-Olivier Frappier, of Joe Beef fame, has created a squid and chips dish for Brit & Chips restaurant. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered. Read my blog posting guidelines here. Powered by WPeMatico
Forbes Names Beyond Fear as One of the “13 Books Technology Executives Should Have On Their Shelves”
It’s a good list. Powered by WPeMatico
It was easy: The hackers took a medium range photo of their subject with a digital camera’s night mode, and printed the infrared image. Then, presumably to give the image some depth, the hackers placed a contact lens on top of the printed picture. Powered by WPeMatico
I’m in Cambridge University, at the tenth Workshop on Security and Human Behavior. SHB is a small invitational gathering of people studying various aspects of the human side of security, organized each year by Ross Anderson, Alessandro Acquisti, and myself. The 50 or so people in the room include psychologists, economists, computer security researchers, sociologists, … Read More “Security and Human Behavior (SHB 2017)” »
As devastating as the latest widespread ransomware attacks have been, it’s a problem with a solution. If your copy of Windows is relatively current and you’ve kept it updated, your laptop is immune. It’s only older unpatched systems on your computer that are vulnerable. Patching is how the computer industry maintains security in the face … Read More “Ransomware and the Internet of Things” »
There’s interesting research on using a set of “master” digital fingerprints to fool biometric readers. The work is theoretical at the moment, but they might be able to open about two-thirds of iPhones with these master prints. Definitely something to keep watching. Research paper (behind a paywall). Powered by WPeMatico