Re:Login.gov encryption is badly designed
by alaithea on Sunday September 10, 2017 @11:42PM
(#15215745)
The OP seems to misunderstand the function of NIST, as well. NIST does not "approve" other agencies' software systems. NIST is a standards-setting organization only. They create and publish standards, but do not enforce them.
Re:Login.gov encryption is badly designed
by sdrapkin on Monday September 11, 2017 @10:31AM
(#15218766)
The OP is referring to the OP-linked 18F writeup (you might want to read it), which says "Based on consultation with NIST we follow these steps..."
Re:Login.gov encryption is badly designed
by mgkimsal on Sunday September 10, 2017 @11:28PM
(#15215694)
If there's a legal requirement (FISMA is pointed to as a requirement) that would be rather compelling, no?
Re:Login.gov encryption is badly designed
by grantwu on Sunday September 10, 2017 @11:32PM
(#15215708)
A design that technically violates a law, but is not actually dangerous - suppose the law constrains designs in a way that requires them to be less effective or safe - is not necessarily a poor design, unless "complies with law" is a higher priority design objective than "functions safely as intended".
If the author wishes to identify known vulnerabilities, that would be interesting.
FIPS has some various issues that actually increase vulnerability and not decrease it. Eg, FIPS approved OpenSSL was always an anchor that caused more problems than it solved.