Re:Dual_EC_DRBG backdoor: a proof of concept
by mpyne on Wednesday January 01, 2014 @05:01PM
(#6996939)
> but this makes it sound like ONLY the NSA could exploit this.
Exactly right, and that's why NSA can still claim with a straight face that they were not trying to go around breaking crypto in a generic fashion. Like Clipper and Lotus Notes's initial crypto support, NSA was trying to make the crypto safe against everyone but NSA.
Now this is one area where I disagree totally with NSA's actions, but it is true that the way they went about weakening Dual EC DRGB is more nuanced than simply inserting a secret backdoor that anyone could exploit.
Exactly right, and that's why NSA can still claim with a straight face that they were not trying to go around breaking crypto in a generic fashion. Like Clipper and Lotus Notes's initial crypto support, NSA was trying to make the crypto safe against everyone but NSA.
Now this is one area where I disagree totally with NSA's actions, but it is true that the way they went about weakening Dual EC DRGB is more nuanced than simply inserting a secret backdoor that anyone could exploit.