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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."
Gee, does anyone run Linux on Sparc in production, or know anyone who knows anyone who does or did? Heh.
Yeah I know these distros exist and work well. It's just an odd choice of platform, IMHO.
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
that it seems possible to defend against these attacks with a software change, for example validating the result before sending it.
Nullius in verba