 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Gaithersburg, Md. (UPI) Dec 13, 2010 A competition is on to find a replacement for a computer security algorithm used in almost all secure online transactions, U.S. officials said. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md., will pit the five finalists for the code to become Secure Hash Algorithm-3, or SHA-3, against cryptanalysts who will do their best to crack them, NewScientist.com reported Monday. After an international community of cryptanalysts test and analyze the algorithms for weaknesses, one will be selected as the winner in 2012. The need for the competition dates to 2004 and 2005 when Chinese cryptanalyst Xiaoyun Wang shocked security experts by revealing flaws in the current algorithm SHA-1, the gold-standard relied upon for almost all online banking transactions, digital signatures, and the secure storage of some passwords for e-mail accounts and other online activities. A less-widely used SHA-2 algorithm is similar and shares the same vulnerabilities. Hash algorithms scramble computer files into a fixed-length string of bits called a hash. Under SHA-1, it was thought the only way to unscramble a hash would require millions of years' worth of computing power, but Wang found a shortcut, raising the possibility that online transactions could someday be rendered insecure. NIST launched the competition to find a replacement in 2007. NIST received 64 entries, pruned to a list of 14 that warranted further consideration, and then on Dec. 9 NIST announced it had settled on just five finalists. "We picked five finalists that seemed to have the best combination of confidence in the security of the algorithm and their performance on a wide range of platforms" such as desktop computers and servers, William Burr of NIST said. The competition is a big deal for cryptographers and cryptanalysts alike, Burr said. "These are incredibly competitive people. They just love this," Burr said of the cryptanalysts who will test the new algorithms. "It's almost too much fun. For us, it's a lot of work."
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Cyberwar - Internet Security News - Systems and Policy Issues
No apparent Stuxnet impact in US: cyber officialWashington (AFP) Dec 7, 2010 Computer software targeted by Stuxnet is used in US infrastructure but the virus does not appear to have affected any systems in the United States, a US cybersecurity official said Tuesday. Greg Schaffer, assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), told reporters here that Stuxnet demonstrates the increasingly sophisticated nature of ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook
