• CybersecurityUnhackable communication: Single particles of light could bring the “quantum internet”

    Hacker attacks on everything from social media accounts to government files could be largely prevented by the advent of quantum communication, which would use particles of light called “photons” to secure information rather than a crackable code. The problem is that quantum communication is currently limited by how much information single photons can help send securely, called a “secret bit rate.” Researchers created a new technique that would increase the secret bit rate 100-fold, to over 35 million photons per second.

  • CybersecurityOpen-source hardware could defend against the next generation of hacking

    By Joshua M. Pearce

    Imagine you had a secret document you had to store away from prying eyes. And you have a choice: You could buy a safe made by a company that kept the workings of its locks secret. Or you could buy a safe whose manufacturer openly published the designs, letting everyone – including thieves – see how they’re made. Which would you choose? It might seem unexpected, but as an engineering professor, I’d pick the second option.

  • EncryptionEconomic benefit of NIST’s encryption standard at least $250 billion

    NIST has released a study that estimates a $250 billion economic impact from the development of its Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) over the past twenty years. AES is a cryptographic algorithm used to encrypt and decrypt electronic information. It was approved for use by the federal government in November 2001 and has since been widely adopted by private industry. Today, AES protects everything from classified data and bank transactions to online shopping and social media apps.

  • PasswordsWhy and how people forget passwords

    Do you frequently forget passwords to a baffling array of accounts and websites? Much depends on a password’s importance and how often you use it, according researchers. Their study could spur improved password technology and use.

  • EncryptionQrypt licenses ORNL’s quantum random number generator to bolster encryption methods

    Qrypt, Inc. has licensed a novel cyber security technology from ORNL, promising a stronger defense against cyberattacks including those posed by quantum computing. Qrypt will incorporate ORNL’s quantum random number generator, or QRNG, into the company’s existing encryption platform, using inherent quantum randomness to create unique and unpredictable encryption keys enabling virtually impenetrable communications.

  • EncryptionClosing security hole in popular encryption software

    Cybersecurity researchers have helped close a security vulnerability that could have allowed hackers to steal encryption keys from a popular security package by briefly listening in on unintended “side channel” signals from smartphones.

  • CybersecurityMaking phrase-based passwords more user friendly for better online security

    Although passphrases, or phrase-based passwords, have been found to be more secure than traditional passwords, human factors issues such as typographical errors and memorability have slowed their wider adoption. Researchers have developed and tested two new passphrase systems that seek to address these shortcomings and improve the usability and security of existing passphrase authentication systems.

  • EncryptionQuantum encryption to protect communications from hackers

    Securing highly sensitive information, such as hospital records and bank details, is a major challenge faced by companies and organization throughout the world. Researchers have shown that a new quantum-based procedure for distributing secure information along communication lines could be successful in preventing serious security breaches.

  • EncryptionThe ENCRYPT Act protects encryption from U.S. state prying

    By David Ruiz

    It’s not just the DOJ and the FBI that want to compromise your right to private communications and secure devices—some state lawmakers want to weaken encryption, too. In recent years, a couple of state legislatures introduced bills to restrict or outright ban encryption on smartphones and other devices. Fortunately, several Congress members recently introduced their own bill to stop this dangerous trend before it goes any further.

  • EncryptionRussia asks Apple to help it enforce ban on Telegram

    Russia’s communications regulator says it has asked U.S. technology giant Apple to help it block the popular messaging service Telegram in Russia. The regulator sent a letter to Apple asking it to block push notifications for Telegram users in Russia, ensuring that Apple phone and tablet users do not receive alerts about new messages and rendering the application less useful.

  • BackdoorsFBI: The number of unhackable devices lower than that reported to Congress

    The FBI has been telling lawmakers that it was facing a serious problem in accessing the encrypted devices seized from criminals and terrorists. For months, the Bureau has claimed that encryption prevented the bureau from legally searching the contents of nearly 7,800 devices in 2017, but on Monday the Washington Post reported that the actual number is far lower due to “programming errors” by the FBI.

  • EncryptionBring in the nerds: EFF introduces actual encryption experts to U.S. Senate staff

    By Andrew Crocker and Nate Cardozo

    Policymakers hear frequently from the FBI and the Department of Justice about the dangers of encryption and the so-called Going Dark problem, but they very rarely hear from actual engineers, cryptographers, and computer scientists. Last week in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, the Electronic Frontier Fundation (EFF) convened a closed-door briefing for Senate staff about the realities of device encryption.

  • CybersecurityWomen in cybersecurity are making a difference

    Women in the cybersecurity industry may not make an impact in terms of numbers, but their work speaks for itself. Shimrit Tzur-David, Ph.D., is the co-founder and chief technology officer of Secret Double Octopus, a cybersecurity company which uses secret sharing, which is used to protect nuclear codes, to enable companies to do away with passwords all together. She was recently interviewed by Information Age.

  • Dark webWebhose takes aim at the Dark Web

    By Brian Blum

    Fans of the popular TV show “Mr. Robot,” which dives deep into the world of shady hackers and the Dark Web that lurks beyond its better-known counterpart, take note: An Israeli startup is serving notice that the hidden is now visible and even your bitcoins won’t shield you from the long arm of the law.

  • EncryptionRussian court to hear request to block Telegram

    A Russian court says it will begin considering this week a request by state media regulator Roskomnadzor to block the messaging app Telegram. Roskomnadzor has asked the court to block Telegram following the company’s refusal to give the Federal Security Service (FSB) access to users’ messaging data.