Basingstoke, 11th January 2010 - Hard on the heels that the GSM A5/1 encryption system has been cracked (http://bit.ly/4KgwT7) comes reports that a second crypto system - 768-bit RSA - has now been hung out to dry using a cluster PC brute force approach http://bit.ly/7xmqco   Weekend news that the 768-bit RSA encryption has been cracked - generating a huge five terabyte password file in the process - was met with a sanguine response from Origin Storage.   "Cracking this crypto system using a 2.2GHz Opteron processor-based PC would reportedly have taken around 1,500 years, but the process has been dramatically speeded up using distributed computer resources and cluster PC approach," said Andy Cordial, managing director with the storage systems integration specialist.  

Fortify Software warns on modification risks from portable devices   Fortify Software, the application vulnerability specialist, has warned that software crackers are likely to continue modifying relatively low-cost specific-application devices, such as e-readers, but that the potential security risks to companies are significant.   The reason, says Richard Kirk, Fortify's European director, is that whilst best practice principles are usually applied to a firmware-driven device, such as an e-reader, in terms of operating system and allied software, all of these principles disappear out of the window when the device is cracked and re-purposed.   Kirk's comments come as the Nook e-book reader, a low-cost device developed by Barnes & Noble last year, has been hacked (http://bit.ly/4sW9Oq) to fully utilise the Android operating system.   "Although the Nook (http://bit.ly/6xFTGa) uses a customised version of the Android operating system, it also supports WiFi and 3G cellular, which means it has connectivity with all manner of systems via the Internet," he said.

Thales delivers scalability and continuous availability to organizations to help safeguard mission-critical systems and information with a complete portfolio of HSMs

Thales, leader in information systems and communications security, announces nShield Connect 500 and nShield Connect 1500, two network-attached hardware security modules (HSMs) that bolster the company’s comprehensive product portfolio of industry-leading HSMs. Part of the nCipher product line, nShield Connect 500 and 1500 complement nShield Connect 6000, Thales’s flagship HSM and the fastest on the market today. Thales is the only company to offer dual, hot-swappable power supplies for enhanced business continuity, which come standard on nShield Connect models. The products meet the varying demands of mission-critical security systems that protect personal and other sensitive information.

Managing Director Tim Ellsmore says protective monitoring of police systems is necessary to uphold the laws of a digital network

Manchester, 7th January 2010 - Reports that there have been more than  50 cases of misuse of the force’s computers in the 13th largest police force in England, Wales and Northern Ireland over the last five years (http://bit.ly/8tMBsR) comes as no surprise to Tim Ellsmore, Managing Director of 3ami, a Manchester-based company that produces audit, compliance and control technology.

"With more than 239,000 police officers employed in the UK (http://bit.ly/5622Ub), as well as larger numbers of civilian staff, it is inevitable that human nature will rear its ugly head,” said Ellsmore.