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Researchers Find Way To Zap RSA Algorithm
alphadogg writes "Three University of Michigan computer scientists say they have found a way to exploit a weakness in RSA security technology used to protect everything from media players to smartphones and e-commerce servers. RSA authentication is susceptible, they say, to changes in the voltage supply to a private key holder. While guessing the 1,000-plus digits of binary code in a private key would take unfathomable hours, the researchers say that by varying electric current to a secured computer using an inexpensive purpose-built device they were able to stress out the computer and figure out the 1,024-bit private key in about 100 hours – all without leaving a trace. The researchers in their paper outline how they made the attack (PDF) on a SPARC system running Linux."
...whether interrogating a human or a computer, apparently it is a simple matter of voltage.
...electronic torture?
We can just declare this method in violation of the computer's rights and solve the problem easily!
Rather than apply electrical current to a key holder, wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to apply a $5 wrench?
...except for the empty bags of cheese puffs, Rockstar cans, and several bottles of "lemon gatorade", no one would suspect that they had been there.
Nah, he was actually the second poster. I was going to be the first poster, but my computer's voltage supply started to fluctuate as I was trying to post, causing me problems. Have no fear, as this would-be-first-poster indeed did not RTFA.
Just use Social Engineering