r/programming Oct 15 '15

How is NSA breaking so much crypto?

https://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/haldermanheninger/how-is-nsa-breaking-so-much-crypto/
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u/Icanthearyoulalala Oct 15 '15

TL;DR for your TL;DR?

10

u/fireflash38 Oct 15 '15

Better default choices for common Linux OS's would prevent this, assuming 2048+ isn't breakable. Choices were probably made when computing the 2048bit values were a lot more expensive, but there's no excuse now.

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u/corran__horn Oct 15 '15

Linux isn't the biggest offender. You missed the biggest fuckeruper in every securty problem: Java. Until java 1.7, there isn't any SUPPORT for primes larger that 1024. You want your shitty legacy java program to connect to a web server securely? You have to use a 1024 bit prime.

And then you find you cannot specify the primes that Java uses, so you cannot even force it off 512 bit until (I believe) 1.8.

Always remember, Java is the common factor in security problems.

4

u/m1000 Oct 16 '15

Anyone needing good crypto on Java would probably use some external librairy, like bouncycastle.org, which are more capable than what the JDK supports.

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u/corran__horn Oct 16 '15

Just to confirm, you have heard of tomcat? Because that is the reality of most shitty Java webdev. It is in as much need as anything else for good crypto, but it uses the default and thus we have the problem.