Category: cryptography

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Two New Papers on the Encryption Debate

Posted on By infossl
academicpapers, backdoors, cryptography, cryptowars, encryption, Security technology

Seems like everyone is writing about encryption and backdoors this season. “Policy Approaches to the Encryption Debate,” R Street Policy Study #133, by Charles Duan, Arthur Rizer, Zach Graves and Mike Godwin. “Encryption Policy in Democratic Regimes,” East West Institute. I recently blogged about the new National Academies report on the same topic. Here’s a … Read More “Two New Papers on the Encryption Debate” »

Yet Another FBI Proposal for Insecure Communications

Posted on By infossl
cloudcomputing, cryptography, cryptowars, encryption, fbi, police, Security technology, vulnerabilities

Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein has given talks where he proposes that tech companies decrease their communications and device security for the benefit of the FBI. In a recent talk, his idea is that tech companies just save a copy of the plaintext: Law enforcement can also partner with private industry to address a problem we … Read More “Yet Another FBI Proposal for Insecure Communications” »

Susan Landau’s New Book: Listening In

Posted on By infossl
apple, books, cryptography, cybersecurity, fbi, lawenforcement, privacy, Security technology, surveillance

Susan Landau has written a terrific book on cybersecurity threats and why we need strong crypto. Listening In: Cybersecurity in an Insecure Age. It’s based in part on her 2016 Congressional testimony in the Apple/FBI case; it examines how the Digital Revolution has transformed society, and how law enforcement needs to — and can — … Read More “Susan Landau’s New Book: Listening In” »

“Crypto” Is Being Redefined as Cryptocurrencies

Posted on By infossl
bitcoin, cryptocurrency, cryptography, Security technology

I agree with Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, “Cryptocurrencies aren’t ‘crypto’“: Lately on the internet, people in the world of Bitcoin and other digital currencies are starting to use the word “crypto” as a catch-all term for the lightly regulated and burgeoning world of digital currencies in general, or for the word “cryptocurrency” — which probably shouldn’t even … Read More ““Crypto” Is Being Redefined as Cryptocurrencies” »

Attack on Old ANSI Random Number Generator

Posted on By infossl
academicpapers, cryptanalysis, cryptography, randomnumbers, Security technology

Almost 20 years ago, I wrote a paper that pointed to a potential flaw in the ANSI X9.17 RNG standard. Now, new research has found that the flaw exists in some implementations of the RNG standard. Here’s the research paper, the website — complete with cute logo — for the attack, and Matthew Green’s excellent … Read More “Attack on Old ANSI Random Number Generator” »

FBI Increases Its Anti-Encryption Rhetoric

Posted on By infossl
cryptography, cryptowars, encryption, fbi, nationalsecuritypolicy, Security technology

Earlier this month, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein gave a speech warning that a world with encryption is a world without law — or something like that. The EFF’s Kurt Opsahl takes it apart pretty thoroughly. Last week, FBI Director Christopher Wray said much the same thing. This is an idea that will not die. … Read More “FBI Increases Its Anti-Encryption Rhetoric” »

Security Flaw in Infineon Smart Cards and TPMs

Posted on By infossl
cryptanalysis, cryptography, estonia, idcards, Security technology, securityengineering, smartcards, vulnerabilities

A security flaw in Infineon smart cards and TPMs allows an attacker to recover private keys from the public keys. Basically, the key generation algorithm sometimes creates public keys that are vulnerable to Coppersmith’s attack: While all keys generated with the library are much weaker than they should be, it’s not currently practical to factorize … Read More “Security Flaw in Infineon Smart Cards and TPMs” »