Researchers have uncovered a flaw in the way that some servers handle the Diffie-Hellman key exchange, a bug that’s somewhat similar to the FREAK attack and threatens the security of many Web and mail servers. The bug affects all of the major browsers and any server that supports export-grade 512-bit Diffie-Hellman cryptography. The most serious […]
Tag Archives: Government
The Triumphant Finale of CSI: Cyber
It’s been a couple of months since we left our heroes on CSI: Cyber, and boy, have they been busy. They have apparently solved many crimes using cyber-sleuthing, acquired some decidedly non-cyber firearms skills, and, in the case of our man Krumitz, taken up running. We wanted to check in and see how our merry band […]
Ed Felten Joins White House as Deputy CTO
Ed Felten, a professor at Princeton University and a well-respected voice on security and privacy issues, is joining the White House as the deputy CTO. In his new role, Felten will be working under Megan Smith, the CTO of the United States and a former Google vice president. Felten has been at Princeton in various […]
Court’s Ruling a ‘Clear Signal’ About Mass Surveillance Programs, Experts Say
The ruling last week by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals that the NSA’s years-long bulk collection of phone metadata is illegal is a “clear signal” that courts are moving in the direction of striking down some mass surveillance programs, experts say. The decision, issued Thursday, is among the first major rulings to go against […]
Appeals Court Rules NSA Metadata Collection Not Authorized by Section 215
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Thursday that the Patriot Act does not authorize the bulk collection of phone records by the NSA. The ruling undermines the key foundation upon which the federal government’s phone metadata surveillance program is built, Section 215 of the Patriot Act. That program was the […]
Usbkill Script Can Render Computers Useless
The idea of needing to disable a computer quickly as the police–or another potential adversary–comes through the door typically has been the concern of criminals. But in today’s climate activists, journalists, and others may find themselves wanting to make their laptops unusable in short order, and that’s where usbkill comes in. The new tool is a […]
Threatpost News Wrap, May 1, 2015
Dennis Fisher and Mike Mimoso discuss the post-RSA news, including the MySQL bug, the progress of the OpenSSL overhaul and the wildly entertaining House hearing on crypto backdoors.
Congress, Crypto and Craziness
A Congressional hearing on encryption and “frontdoors” produced a generous amount of the usual “crazy” from lawmakers and law enforcement.
Threat Intelligence Sharing Still Seen as a Challenge
SAN FRANCISCO–The discussion about information sharing has been going on in the security community since before there was a security community, but the tone and shape of the conversation have changed recently thanks to an executive order from the Obama administration and the relentless drumbeat of attacks and data breaches. The benefits of sharing threat intelligence are […]
Crypto ‘Front Door’ Debate Likely to Go On For Years
SAN FRANCISCO–Encryption is the hot new topic in security at the moment, as it has been any number of times in the last few decades. And, as in the past, the notions of key escrow, mandated legal access to encrypted systems and other ideas for helping governments defeat cryptosystems have followed right along with the latest crypto […]