Cryptography Expert Sounds Alarm At Possible Math Hack

netbuzz writes "First we learn from Bruce Schneier that the NSA may have left itself a secret back door in an officially sanctioned cryptographic random-number generator. Now Adi Shamir is warning that a math error unknown to a chip makers but discovered by a tech-savvy terrorist could lead to serious consequences, too. Remember the Intel blunder of 1996? 'Mr. Shamir wrote that if an intelligence organization discovered a math error in a widely used chip, then security software on a PC with that chip could be "trivially broken with a single chosen message." Executing the attack would require only knowledge of the math flaw and the ability to send a "poisoned" encrypted message to a protected computer, he wrote. It would then be possible to compute the value of the secret key used by the targeted system.'"

Comments

first post.

[Anonymous Coward]

first post.

First Post?

[andruk]

Isn't this exactly what the terrorists want? Our own government to become to oppressive that our country changes into the government of 1984?

first reply to first post

[Anonymous Coward]

first reply to first post

"Can't we all get along?"

[Anonymous Coward]

All this cloak-and-dagger stuff begs the question: "Can't we all get along?"

Re:first post. TFA = WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

Usually I dislike these idiots but this thread really deserves a reply like this. What the fuck is the article all about? I read it, it's plain english but I have much trouble comprehending wtf it's all about. Someone wanna translate?