encryption

Quantum Principles Eyed to Solve Current Limitations in Encryption, Data Protection

Quantum principles are set to transform the next generation of Internet security, with new quantum-based technologies on tap to improve encryption and data communication which researchers believe could solve some of the limitations with current technology.

Spotlight: Deepika Chauhan of Digicert on the Challenges of Securing the Internet of Things

There’s an epidemic of insecure Internet of Things devices. But why? And what is the shortest path to ending that epidemic? In this Spotlight Edition* of The Security Ledger Podcast, we speak with Deepika Chauhan, the Executive Vice President of Emerging Markets at DigiCert. Her job: forging new paths for the use of public key encryption to secure Internet of Things ecosystems.

Google details CPU flaws, claims AMD, ARM and Intel all affected

Google has come forward to claim responsibility for discovering a pair of serious security holes in Intel processors that run almost 9 in 10 computers in the world. And worse: the company has echoed a statement by Intel yesterday that the flaws are not specific to that company’s chips. Contrary to published reports, a blog post on the Google Security Blog by Matt Linton, a Senior Security Engineer at Google and Pat Parseghian, a Technical Program Manager said that flaws dubbed “Specter” (PDF) and “Meltdown” (PDF) are not limited to chips by Intel, but exist in central processing unit (CPU) chips by a wide range of vendors including Intel, AMD and ARM. Google discovered the flaws The flaws were discovered by Jann Horn, a researcher for Google’s Project Zero security team, discovered the flaw and showed how malicious actors could game a common CPU feature known as “speculative execution” to […]

BLU smart phone

Experts Propose Standard for IoT Firmware Updates

Bleeping Computer reported that a new proposal submitted to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) defines a secure framework for delivering firmware updates to Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Insecure software updates for embedded devices (aka ‘firmware’) have been a frequent source of security lapses on mobile and embedded devices like Internet connected webcams. Filed on October 30, the “IoT Firmware Update Architecture,” establishes security requirements for device makers to implement when designing firmware update mechanisms for connected devices. A familiar list of features The proposed rules include features that have long been recommended by security experts to permit safe handling of software updates. Among them the use of cryptographically signed updates and public key cryptography to provide end-to-end security and verify firmware images, as well as the ability to work with low-power and resource constrained IoT devices. Firmware has been the source of widespread security issues. For example, low-cost […]

ROCA Crypto Flaw could have big Impact on Internet of Things

With no simple way to patch affected systems, the security vulnerability in Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chipsets made by the firm Infineon may be with us for years to come, security experts warn.