Monthly Archives: July 2014

NIST told to grow a pair and kick NSA to the curb

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The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been urged to hire more crypto experts so it can confidently tell the NSA to take a hike.

A report (PDF) from NIST's Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT) which scrutinizes and advises the institute scolds NIST for being too reliant on the NSA's cryptography expertise. VCAT cited the adoption and backing the use of the dodgy Dual EC DRBG algorithm, an NSA-championed random number generator that was later found to be flawed [PDF].

Random numbers are vital in cryptography, as they thwart an eavesdropper attempting to decrypt intercepted enciphered data.

The report was launched in the wake of allegations from whistleblower Edward Snowden that the NSA deliberately weakened Dual EC DRBG and other algorithms for surveillance purposes. Despite having been warned about the insecurities years ago, the report found that NIST which is part of the US Department of Commerce relied heavily on input from the NSA in maintaining the standard.

VCAT members believe that to guard itself from such scandals in the future, NIST will need to become more transparent and better engage with the security community as a whole.

According to the VCAT report, a lack of qualified personnel was a key shortfall for the NIST. Without enough experts on hand, the institute was unable to spot and address the weaknesses in the Dual EC DRBG and the SP 800-90 standard.

To remedy the issue, the committee is recommending that NIST hire additional staff versed in cryptography as well as reach out to academic institutions and security vendors when building and analyzing encryption standards.

NIST will also need to cut ties with the NSA.

"NIST may seek the advice of the NSA on cryptographic matters but it must be in a position to assess it and reject it when warranted," the report suggests. "This may be accomplished by NIST itself or by engaging the cryptographic community during the development and review of any particular standard."

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NIST told to grow a pair and kick NSA to the curb

Experts Report Potential Software ‘Back Doors’ in US Standards

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San Francisco: U.S. government standards for software may enable spying by the National Security Agency through widely used coding formulas that should be jettisoned, some of the country's top independent experts concluded in papers released on Monday.

Such mathematical formulas, or curves, are an arcane but essential part of most technology that prevents interception and hacking, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been legally required to consult with the NSA's defensive experts in approving them and other cryptography standards.

But NIST's relationship with the spy agency came under fire in September after reports based on documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden pointed to one formula in particular as a Trojan horse for the NSA.

NIST discontinued that formula, called Dual Elliptic Curve, and asked its external advisory board and a special panel of experts to make recommendations that were published on Monday alongside more stinging conclusions by the individual experts.

Noting the partially obscured hand of the NSA in creating Dual Elliptic Curve - which Reuters reported was most broadly distributed by security firm RSA- the group delved into the details of how it and other NIST standards emerged. It found incomplete documentation and poor explanations in some cases; in others material was withheld pending legal review.

As a whole, the panels recommended that NIST review its obligation to confer with the NSA and seek legal changes "where it hinders its ability to independently develop the best cryptographic standards to serve not only the United States government but the broader community."

They also urged NIST to weigh the advice of individual task force members who made more dramatic suggestions, such as calling for the replacement of a larger set of curves approved for authenticating users, in part because they were selected through unclear means by the NSA.

"It is possible that the specified curves contain a back door somehow," said Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Ron Rivest, a co-founder of RSA and the source of the letter R in its name. Though the curves could be fine, he wrote, "it seems prudent to assume the worst and transition away."

More broadly, Rivest wrote, "NIST should ask the NSA for full disclosure regarding all existing standards... If NSA refuses to answer such an inquiry, then any standard developed with significant NSA input should be assumed to be 'tainted,'" absent proof of security acceptable to outsiders.

In an email exchange, Rivest told Reuters that "NIST needs to have a process whereby evidence is publicly presented" about how the curves were chosen.

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Experts Report Potential Software 'Back Doors' in US Standards

US government software standards may enable spying by NSA

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San Francisco: US government standards for software may enable spying by the National Security Agency through widely used coding formulas that should be jettisoned, some of US' top independent experts concluded in papers released on Monday.

Such mathematical formulas, or curves, are an arcane but essential part of most technology that prevents interception and hacking, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been legally required to consult with the NSA's defensive experts in approving them and other cryptography standards.

But NIST's relationship with the spy agency came under fire in September after reports based on documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden pointed to one formula in particular as a Trojan horse for the NSA.

NIST discontinued that formula, called Dual Elliptic Curve, and asked its external advisory board and a special panel of experts to make recommendations that were published on Monday alongside more stinging conclusions by the individual experts.

Noting the partially obscured hand of the NSA in creating Dual Elliptic Curve - which Reuters reported was most broadly distributed by security firm RSA - the group delved into the details of how it and other NIST standards emerged. It found incomplete documentation and poor explanations in some cases; in others material was withheld pending legal review.

As a whole, the panels recommended that NIST review its obligation to confer with the NSA and seek legal changes "where it hinders its ability to independently develop the best cryptographic standards to serve not only the United States government but the broader community."

They also urged NIST to weigh the advice of individual task force members who made more dramatic suggestions, such as calling for the replacement of a larger set of curves approved for authenticating users, in part because they were selected through unclear means by the NSA.

"It is possible that the specified curves contain a back door somehow," said Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Ron Rivest, a co-founder of RSA and the source of the letter R in its name. Though the curves could be fine, he wrote, "it seems prudent to assume the worst and transition away."

More broadly, Rivest wrote, "NIST should ask the NSA for full disclosure regarding all existing standards... If NSA refuses to answer such an inquiry, then any standard developed with significant NSA input should be assumed to be 'tainted,'" absent proof of security acceptable to outsiders.

In an email exchange, Rivest told Reuters that "NIST needs to have a process whereby evidence is publicly presented" about how the curves were chosen.

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US government software standards may enable spying by NSA

Revamping your insider threat program

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Why it's important to do now, and factors to consider.

Think headlines about data theft and leakage have nothing to do with you? Think again. Many of these incidents have a common theme: Privileged access. It's your job to make sure your organization doesn't fall victim to the same fate by at the very least examining your existing insider threat program, and perhaps doing a major revamp.

Edward Snowden's theft and release of National Security Agency data, Army Private First Class Bradley Manning's disclosure of sensitive military documents to information distributor WikiLeaks and the shooting at the Washington Navy Yard by a credentialed IT subcontractor have given IT executives across industries pause to reconsider their security policies and procedures.

Tips for insider-threat mitigation

-- Sandra Gittlen

"A crescendo of discussions is happening in boardrooms everywhere about the impact an insider could have on corporate assets," says Tom Mahlik, deputy chief security officer and director of Global Security Services at The MITRE Corporation, a government contractor that operates federally funded research and development centers.

The Washington Navy Yard incident cost 12 people their lives; the full impact of the WikiLeaks and Snowden data releases cannot yet be quantified.

"These incidents have added another dimension to the threat paradigm -- privileged access," Mahlik says.

Mahlik suggests that existing insider threat programs must increasingly be focused on users with elevated or privileged access to critical information. To that point, he is leading an overhaul of MITRE's own program. His goal is to understand the threats insiders pose and to deter those threats via a program that synchronizes people, policies, processes and technology. "We are in the nascent stage of this effort," he says.

Realizing the new threat

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Revamping your insider threat program

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden says UK surveillance law "defies belief" | Guardian Interview – Video

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NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden says UK surveillance law "defies belief" | Guardian Interview
The NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has condemned the new surveillance bill being pushed through the UK #39;s parliament this week. Subscribe to The Guardian ...

By: The Guardian

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NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden says UK surveillance law "defies belief" | Guardian Interview - Video