Cryptography

Troubling Cracks Showing in Internet’s Security Foundation

The revelation last week that researchers Thai Duong and Juliano Rizzo had developed a new attack on SSL that gives them the ability to decrypt some protected sessions on the fly sparked a lot of discussions about the inherent problems of the protocol and whether it has outlived its usefulness. But it’s not just SSL that’s the problem; it’s the slow accumulation of security problems in the key protocols and systems on which the Internet–and much of our world–rely that has become the real issue.

Dutch Government Sets Sept. 28 Kill Date for DigiNotar Certs

Adobe said on Friday that its products would soon reject certificates issued by the disgraced Dutch certificate authority DigiNotar following the Dutch government’s decision, Friday, to revoke DigiNotar PKIoverheid CA certificates used by government agencies on September 28. 

Microsoft Defends Secure Boot in Windows 8

Microsoft officials are seeking to assuage concerns that its implementation of UEFI in Windows 8 will prevent users from loading non-Microsoft operating systems or applications on their machines. Despite concerns raised by security researchers and open-source advocates about vendor lock-in and other issues arising from the use of a secure boot sequence in the upcoming OS, Microsoft says “the customer is in control of their PC.”

Secure Boot in Windows 8 Worries Researchers

by Dennis Fisher
11

Windows 8, like Windows 7 and Vista before it, is being touted as the most secure version of Windows ever. In past releases, many of the security improvements have come through exploit mitigations such as ASLR and DEP and better software security practices during development. In Windows 8, however, one of the major changes is the addition of UEFI, a BIOS replacement that will include a secure boot sequence to help prevent low-level malware infections. That change, however, is not sitting well with everyone.

QR Tags Can Hide Malicious Links, Experts Warn

by Paul Roberts
5

QR tags have become the next big thing in interactive marketing. But as smart phone users flock to the trendy, postage-stamp sized bar codes, researchers are warning that they could be used to hijack mobile phones by directing them to malicious Web pages.

Apple Removes DigiNotar Certificates From Safari

by Dennis Fisher
4

Apple has finally released a fix for the certificate trust issue caused by the attack on DigiNotar, more than a week after the fraudulent certificates were identified and other browser vendors moved to revoke trust in them. However, the company did not update the mobile version of Safari to remove the certificates in iOS.

Mozilla Asks Firefox CAs to Audit Security Systems in Wake of DigiNotar Hack

by Dennis Fisher
5

Already having revoked trust in the root certificates issued by DigiNotar, Mozilla is taking steps to avoid having to repeat that process with any other certificate authority trusted by Firefox, asking all of the CAs involved in the root program to conduct audits of their PKIs and verify that two-factor authentication and other safeguards are in place to protect against the issuance of rogue certificates.

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