Chip design flaw could subvert encryption

**Glaswegian** · 11-23-2007, 01:18 PM

Adi Shamir, a leading expert on computer cryptography, has posited that a new security Relevant Products/Services risk might be dawning as computer chips get more and more complex. Shamir is a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and is the "S" is RSA.

The New York Times reported recently that Shamir circulated a research note to colleagues hypothesizing that a subtle math error in advanced computer chips could be recognized and exploited in a way that would break public-key cryptography systems, including RSA security.

Shamir said that if an intelligence organization discovered such a flaw, security software on a computer with a compromised chip could be "trivially broken with a single chosen message." The attacker would send a "poisoned" encrypted message to a protected computer, he wrote. It would then be possible to compute the value of the secret key used by the targeted system.

http://www.crm-daily.com/story.xhtml...d=11200BH5USIO

11-23-2007, 01:18 PM	#1 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 25,427 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 / Win 7 Pro My System Blog Entries: 10	Chip design flaw could subvert encryption Adi Shamir, a leading expert on computer cryptography, has posited that a new security Relevant Products/Services risk might be dawning as computer chips get more and more complex. Shamir is a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and is the "S" is RSA. The New York Times reported recently that Shamir circulated a research note to colleagues hypothesizing that a subtle math error in advanced computer chips could be recognized and exploited in a way that would break public-key cryptography systems, including RSA security. Shamir said that if an intelligence organization discovered such a flaw, security software on a computer with a compromised chip could be "trivially broken with a single chosen message." The attacker would send a "poisoned" encrypted message to a protected computer, he wrote. It would then be possible to compute the value of the secret key used by the targeted system. http://www.crm-daily.com/story.xhtml...d=11200BH5USIO __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. PC Safety & Security::PC running a bit slow?::Donate::Photographers Corner