Android random number flaw implicated in Bitcoin thefts

Bitcoin thefts

Bitcoin is often in the news, not least because it is somewhat controversial.

It's a digital currency, backed by cryptography, not by any central issuing authority. Its "coins" are strings of bits, and anyone can generate one, given enough time (and assuming no-one else generates the same coin first). The calculations required to "mine" a Bitcoin are configured so that the complexity of finding them doubles every four years.

That means there's an exponential dropoff in the rate at which new Bitcoins appear, and that the supply is capped at 21 million Bitcoins.

The number remaining will quickly close in on zero, with 1/2 gone in 2012, 3/4 by 2016, 7/8 by 2020, and so on. By about 2030, we'll be close to that asmyptotic maximum of 21 million coins.

For what it's worth, and it is rather a lot, Bitcoin exchanges currently value each Bitcoin (BTC) around US$100.

Android random number flaw implicated in Bitcoin thefts | The Naked Security

SIM cards vulnerable to hacking, says researcher

Millions of mobile phones may be vulnerable to spying due to the use of outdated, 1970s-era cryptography, according to new research due to be presented at the Black Hat security conference.

SIM cards vulnerable to hacking

Karsten Nohl, an expert cryptographer with Security Research Labs, has found a way to trick mobile phones into granting access to the device's location, SMS functions and allow changes to a person's voicemail number.

Nohl's research looked at a mobile phones' SIM (Subscriber Identification Module), the small card inserted into a device that ties it to a phone number and authenticates software updates and commands sent over-the-air from an operator.

More than 7 billion SIM cards are in use worldwide. To ensure privacy and security, SIM cards use encryption when communicating with an operator, but the encryption standards use vary widely.
A mobile communication trade group, the GSM Association, said in a statement that only a "minority" of SIM cards that use older encryption standards would appear to be vulnerable.

"There is no evidence to suggest that today's more secure SIMs, which are used to support a range of advanced services, will be affected," GSMA said.

SIM cards vulnerable to hacking, says researcher | Network World

Why cryptography is harder than it looks

From e-mail to cellular communications, from secure Web access to digital cash, cryptography is an essential part of today's information systems. Cryptography helps provide accountability, fairness, accuracy, and confidentiality. It can prevent fraud in electronic commerce and assure the validity of financial transactions. It can prove your identity or protect your anonymity. It can keep vandals from altering your Web page and prevent industrial competitors from reading your confidential documents. And in the future, as commerce and communications continue to move to computer networks, cryptography will become more and more vital.

But the cryptography now on the market doesn't provide the level of security it advertises. Most systems are not designed and implemented in concert with cryptographers, but by engineers who thought of cryptography as just another component. It's not. You can't make systems secure by tacking on cryptography as an afterthought. You have to know what you are doing every step of the way, from conception through installation.

Cryptography is harder than it looks

Billions of dollars are spent on computer security, and most of it is wasted on insecure products. After all, weak cryptography looks the same on the shelf as strong cryptography. Two e-mail encryption products may have almost the same user interface, yet one is secure while the other permits eavesdropping. A comparison chart may suggest that two programs have similar features, although one has gaping security holes that the other doesn't. An experienced cryptographer can tell the difference. So can a thief.

Why cryptography is harder than it looks | Bruce Schneier

How cryptography is a key weapon in the fight against empire states

What began as a means of retaining individual freedom can now be used by smaller states to fend off the ambitions of larger ones.

Cryptography as a key weapon

The original cypherpunks were mostly Californian libertarians. I was from a different tradition but we all sought to protect individual freedom from state tyranny. Cryptography was our secret weapon. It has been forgotten how subversive this was. Cryptography was then the exclusive property of states, for use in their various wars. By writing our own software and disseminating it far and wide we liberated cryptography, democratised it and spread it through the frontiers of the new internet.

How cryptography is a key weapon in the fight against empire states | The Guardian

You are dangerously bad at cryptography

The four stages of competence:

Unconscious incompetence - When you don't know how bad you are or what you don't know.

Conscious incompetence - When you know how bad you are and know what steps you need to take to get better.

Conscious competence - When you're good and you know it (this is fun!)

Unconscious competence - When you're so good you don't know it anymore.

Cryptography

We all start at stage one whether we like it or not. The key to progressing from stage one to stage two in any subject is to make lots of mistakes and get feedback. If you're getting feedback, you begin to create a picture of what you got right, what you got wrong and what you need to do better next time.

You are dangerously bad at cryptography | Web Application development