Look What the NSA Dragged In
September 23, 2013 •Ray Potter
There are many changes to track in the world of standards-based crypto, another on the long list of challenging facets in this industry. These changes can sometimes include the algorithms themselves.
NIST Special Publication 800-131A defines transition timelines for what NIST considers to be weak or weakening algorithms. It makes sense; as computing power increases, the underlying strength of cryptographic algorithms (whether for encryption or hashing) diminishes. This is tricky business though, as some of these algorithms are part of protocols implemented by technology vendors and are widely supported and adopted by the industry. It's hard for some folks to develop towards those changes because of user adoption, customer environments, backwards compatibility, and other reasons, but eventually the algorithm must be phased out.
We are currently facing an entirely different and even more rare algorithm change, which requires quick action and leaves little time for a planned transition. It was the direct result of the discussions on surrounding entropy sources and the 800-90 series of draft Special Publications from NIST. SP 800-90A is titled "Recommendation for Random Number Generation Using Deterministic Random Bit Generators" and does just that. However, one of the methods listed is now under scrutiny, and NIST has re-opened the public comment period to address concerns from the community.
The end result is a consensus revocation of confidence in the security of the Dual EC DRBG algorithm. In the wake of the NSA revelations, the industry has become very sensitive to potential conflicts of interest and this algorithm is suspected of containing backdoors. Even though Dual EC DRBG is a FIPS-approved algorithm, NIST is currently recommending against using Dual EC DRBG until SP 800-A is re-issued.
In this context, SafeLogic issued a notice on our support portal. SafeLogic agrees with NIST’s evaluation and we discourage the use of Dual EC DRBG until further notice. Fortunately, there is no impact to our FIPS 140 certificate, our customers' FIPS 140 certificates, or our customers' products and solutions. Dual EC DRBG is one of many algorithms available for use within CryptoComply for Mobile and CryptoComply for Server modules, but requires specific customer action to select and activate the algorithm in question. Our default is AES 256 CTR, which is covered in Section 10.2 of SP 800-90A, and if that is not your preference, there are several other options that are still endorsed by NIST.
Of greater concern is the prevalence of use across the industry. While SafeLogic has not promoted the use of Dual EC DRBG, it is the sole algorithm in use for some solutions. In others, including the entire RSA BSAFE family of cryptographic toolkits, Dual EC DRBG is of primary importance and is used as a default algorithm in every version of BSAFE and Data Protection Manager (DPM).
RSA responded by making a similar announcement, advising all developer customers to discontinue use of the algorithm immediately. They plan to update their libraries ‘as needed’ and ‘change the RNG as appropriate’ as well. This, of course, does not help existing customers, who must follow technical guidance provided by RSA to update their own implementations. This is no trivial undertaking and is by no means immediate. RSA has provided a complicated and time-consuming recipe for an antidote, while the poison itself is already at work. While I’m sure many developers spent their weekend on this, the popularity of RSA’s BSAFE product line leaves a high probability that there are many more still vulnerable and struggling to respond.
If you are in this group, please reach out. SafeLogic is making the team available to answer any questions you may have about algorithm selection, how to respond to these advisories, and how CryptoComply may solve your issues.

Ray Potter
Ray Potter is the Founder of SafeLogic, which was spun off from his previous venture, the Apex Assurance Group consulting firm. He brings over 20 years of security and compliance experience, including leading teams at Cisco and Ernst & Young, to the operations team at SafeLogic. Ray loves playing guitar and flying airplanes.
Popular Posts
Search for posts
Tags
- FIPS 140 (102)
- FIPS validation (83)
- Encryption (68)
- cryptography (63)
- NIST (60)
- CryptoComply (58)
- SafeLogic (58)
- Industry News (54)
- cryptographic module (51)
- Conversations (49)
- CMVP (48)
- RapidCert (46)
- compliance (39)
- Ray Potter (33)
- SafeLogic News (33)
- Event (27)
- federal (27)
- CAVP (23)
- Cybersecurity (22)
- algorithm (22)
- #LoveOurCustomers (15)
- OpenSSL (14)
- government (14)
- CryptoCompact (13)
- Cryptology (12)
- DoD (12)
- FedRAMP (12)
- RSA (12)
- compatible (12)
- partners (12)
- NSA (11)
- healthcare (11)
- AES (9)
- Apple (9)
- Cloud (9)
- FIPS 140-3 (9)
- Wearable (9)
- award (9)
- health (9)
- security (9)
- time (9)
- HIPAA (8)
- Homeland Security (8)
- IoT (8)
- Suite B (8)
- hack (8)
- testing (8)
- whitepaper (8)
- CMMC (7)
- agency (7)
- client (7)
- constrained devices (7)
- Advisories (6)
- Approved Products List (APL) (6)
- HITECH (6)
- holiday (6)
- lab (6)
- vulnerability (6)
- Acumen (5)
- CEO (5)
- Dual EC DRBG (5)
- Google (5)
- Google Glass (5)
- ICMC (5)
- Microsoft (5)
- NIST 800-171 (5)
- NIST 800-53 (5)
- OpenSSL 3.0 (5)
- Safe Harbor (5)
- Wes Higaki (5)
- Whit Diffie (5)
- ePHI (5)
- healthIT (5)
- heartbleed (5)
- mHealth (5)
- procurement (5)
- vulnerable (5)
- C3PAO (4)
- HHS (4)
- HITECH Act (4)
- Mark Minnoch (4)
- Samsung (4)
- Vegas (4)
- archive (4)
- attack (4)
- blog (4)
- breach (4)
- breaches (4)
- deadline (4)
- encrypt (4)
- health IT (4)
- innovation (4)
- military (4)
- procure (4)
- AFCEA (3)
- Air Force (3)
- BSAFE (3)
- BouncyCastle (3)
- CSE (3)
- Common Criteria (3)
- DFARS (3)
- DISA (3)
- EMM (3)
- FIPS 186 (3)
- FIPS-approved (3)
- HIMSS (3)
- HIPAA Safe Harbor (3)
- HITECH Safe Harbor (3)
- Heartbleed Bug (3)
- Implementation Guidance (3)
- Implementation Under Testing (3)
- InfoSec (3)
- NVLAP (3)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (3)
- New Year (3)
- OCR (3)
- OpenSSL 1.1.1 (3)
- PHI (3)
- POA&M (3)
- Snowden (3)
- advisor (3)
- blackberry (3)
- budget (3)
- bug (3)
- competition (3)
- connected (3)
- constrained (3)
- data at rest (3)
- editorial (3)
- forum (3)
- goals (3)
- healthcare IT (3)
- iPhone (3)
- liberty (3)
- magazine (3)
- open source (3)
- patriotic (3)
- privacy (3)
- public sector (3)
- queue (3)
- revalidation (3)
- software (3)
- speaking (3)
- transition (3)
- vulnerabilities (3)
- 3PAO (2)
- ACVP (2)
- BA (2)
- BAA (2)
- CIO (2)
- CSEC (2)
- CSP (2)
- CoIT (2)
- Coalfire (2)
- Cyber Defense Magazine (2)
- Cyberattack (2)
- DIY (2)
- Defense Industrial Base (2)
- Diffie-Hellman (2)
- ECDH (2)
- EHR (2)
- FBI (2)
- FIPS 197 (2)
- FIPS 199 (2)
- FIPS ready (2)
- Facebook (2)
- FinalCode (2)
- Firefox (2)
- Forbes (2)
- HIPAA security controls (2)
- Historical (2)
- Historical Status (2)
- IPsec (2)
- IPsec VPN (2)
- Java (2)
- Jawbone (2)
- Jawbone Up (2)
- Level 1 (2)
- Level 2 (2)
- Level 3 (2)
- Level 4 (2)
- MFA (2)
- MSFT (2)
- Maribel Lopez (2)
- Marine Corps (2)
- Marines (2)
- Mark (2)
- Marquess (2)
- Module in Process (2)
- Mozilla (2)
- NIST 800-111 (2)
- NIST 800-38 (2)
- NSS (2)
- Naughty List (2)
- Navy (2)
- Nest (2)
- Nest thermostat (2)
- Network Security Services (2)
- OpenSSL 1.0.2 (2)
- Pentagon (2)
- Poodle (2)
- President (2)
- RNG (2)
- RSA BSAFE (2)
- RSA Security (2)
- SHA (2)
- SPRS (2)
- SSL (2)
- SSL VPN (2)
- Samsung Galaxy Gear (2)
- San Francisco (2)
- Securonix (2)
- Silicon Valley (2)
- Smart Fridge (2)
- Steve Marquess (2)
- Suite A (2)
- TLS (2)
- TLS 1.3 (2)
- U.S. (2)
- U.S. Armed Forces (2)
- UK (2)
- US (2)
- US Armed Forces (2)
- USA (2)
- Up (2)
- VPN (2)
- Walt Paley (2)
- Webinar (2)
- Wired (2)
- accelerate (2)
- achieving safe harbor (2)
- achieving safe harbor in healthcare (2)
- acquisition (2)
- archive list (2)
- armed forces (2)
- article (2)
- backdoor (2)
- benchmark (2)
- breach notification (2)
- business associate (2)
- business associate agreement (2)
- case study (2)
- checkmark (2)
- code (2)
- competitor (2)
- constrained device (2)
- consultant (2)
- consultants (2)
- consulting (2)
- cost (2)
- cyber terrorism (2)
- data in motion (2)
- developer (2)
- doctor (2)
- entropy (2)
- excellence (2)
- fast (2)
- federal acquisition (2)
- federal procurement (2)
- federal shutdown (2)
- finance (2)
- firmware (2)
- founder (2)
- freedom (2)
- goal (2)
- gold (2)
- guest (2)
- hardware (2)
- hurdle (2)
- hybrid (2)
- iOS 6 (2)
- key management (2)
- leader (2)
- legacy (2)
- mandate (2)
- maturity (2)
- medal (2)
- overlap (2)
- patch (2)
- patches (2)
- patient (2)
- penalties (2)
- pilot (2)
- post-quantum cryptography (2)
- re-validation (2)
- regulated industry (2)
- research (2)
- rival (2)
- security breach (2)
- session (2)
- shutdown (2)
- solution (2)
- speed (2)
- sponsors (2)
- startup (2)
- sunset (2)
- support (2)
- team (2)
- technology (2)
- terrorism (2)
- terrorist (2)
- use case (2)
- vendor (2)
- year (2)
- year end (2)
- (ISC)2 (1)
- 21st Century Cures Act (1)
- Active Status (1)
- Alliance for Digital Innovation (1)
- Amazon (1)
- Android (1)
- Army (1)
- BYOD (1)
- Boeing (1)
- Brent Cook (1)
- Bruce Schneier (1)
- CCEVS (1)
- CES (1)
- CIO Prime Views (1)
- CIO Story (1)
- CIOstory (1)
- CNET (1)
- CNN (1)
- CNSA (1)
- CNSS (1)
- COTS (1)
- CSF (1)
- CTR_DRBG (1)
- CUI (1)
- Cameron (1)
- Chris Conlon (1)
- Columbia University (1)
- Commercial Solutions for Classified (1)
- Cryptographic Technology Group (1)
- Cryptsoft (1)
- CsfC (1)
- Cupertino (1)
- Cyber Monday (1)
- D-FLIP (1)
- DEA (1)
- DES (1)
- DHS (1)
- DIU (1)
- DIUx (1)
- DNA (1)
- DOJ (1)
- Daniel Franke (1)
- David Cameron (1)
- David Hook (1)
- EPCS (1)
- Erlich Bachman (1)
- Extended Support (1)
- FCA (1)
- FF1 (1)
- FF3 (1)
- FIPS Compliance (1)
- FISMA (1)
- FITARA (1)
- FOM (1)
- FOM 2.0 (1)
- FPE (1)
- FUD (1)
- False Claims Act (1)
- Fear and Loathing (1)
- Fed (1)
- Federal IT Sales Summit (1)
- Fitbit (1)
- Florida (1)
- Forbes Magazine (1)
- Fourth of July (1)
- Frank McDonough (1)
- G.18 (1)
- GCHQ (1)
- GNU (1)
- GNU Project (1)
- GSA (1)
- Galaxy (1)
- Galaxy Gear (1)
- Gartner (1)
- Gartner Symposium (1)
- Gavin Belson (1)
- Globo (1)
- GnuPG (1)
- GoBe (1)
- Golden Globes (1)
- Govie (1)
- Govies (1)
- Grammy (1)
- Grammys (1)
- HASH_DRBG (1)
- HBO (1)
- HIIPA (1)
- HIPPA (1)
- HIT (1)
- HITRUST (1)
- HITRUST CSF (1)
- HMAC (1)
- HMAC_DRBG (1)
- HUD (1)
- Healbe (1)
- Heartbeat (1)
- Hebdo (1)
- Hooli (1)
- Hummer (1)
- Humvee (1)
- Hunter S. Thompson (1)
- IBM (1)
- ICMC 2013 (1)
- ICS (1)
- ICS-ISAC (1)
- IPB (1)
- ISO (1)
- ISO 19790 (1)
- ISO 24759 (1)
- ITexpo (1)
- ITexpo West (1)
- ITexpo West 2014 (1)
- Immix (1)
- In Progress (1)
- In Progress List (1)
- Inauguration (1)
- Industrial Control System (1)
- Infogard (1)
- Intel (1)
- Investigatory Powers Bill (1)
- Iron Mountain (1)
- JAR (1)
- JCE (1)
- JITC (1)
- JLTV (1)
- JSSE (1)
- Jack Barker (1)
- Jawbone Up24 (1)
- Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (1)
- KAS (1)
- KBKDF (1)
- Kamala Harris (1)
- Katie Arrington (1)
- Kestler (1)
- Kris van Riper (1)
- LRSB (1)
- Lee (1)
- Lee Kestler (1)
- Legacy List (1)
- Legacy Validation List (1)
- Legion (1)
- LibreSSL (1)
- LinkedIn (1)
- Linux (1)
- Lockheed (1)
- Lockheed Martin (1)
- Lopez Research (1)
- MDMPP (1)
- MDPP (1)
- MIT (1)
- MWC (1)
- Macintosh (1)
- Marissa Mayer (1)
- Mark Amtower (1)
- Matt Caswell (1)
- Matt Cornelius (1)
- Matthew Cornelius (1)
- Matthew Green (1)
- Maturity Model (1)
- Memorial Day (1)
- Michael Leonard (1)
- MicroStrategy (1)
- Microsoft Surface (1)
- Miramar (1)
- Multifactor (1)
- NCSL (1)
- NSA Suite B (1)
- Nevada (1)
- Nike+ (1)
- Nobel (1)
- North Korea (1)
- Northrup (1)
- Northrup Grumman (1)
- OCS (1)
- OMB (1)
- ONC (1)
- OSL (1)
- OSSL 1.1 (1)
- OSSL Foundation (1)
- OVS (1)
- Office 365 (1)
- Oracle (1)
- Orlando (1)
- Oscars (1)
- Osh Kosh (1)
- Oshkosh (1)
- Outlook (1)
- Oval Office (1)
- P-256 (1)
- P-384 (1)
- PC Mag (1)
- PCI (1)
- PCI-DSS (1)
- PIN (1)
- PIN code (1)
- PIN number (1)
- PM (1)
- PQC (1)
- PRISM (1)
- Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption (1)
- Palazzo (1)
- Palo Alto (1)
- Paris (1)
- Pence (1)
- Pied Piper (1)
- Pilgrims (1)
- Poison (1)
- Poodlebleed (1)
- Presidency (1)
- Prime Minister (1)
- Prius (1)
- Protection Profiles (1)
- Pulse Secure (1)
- Q4 (1)
- Quantum Dawn (1)
- Quest (1)
- RAR (1)
- REDCOM (1)
- RFP (1)
- Ralph C. Jensen (1)
- Ralph Jensen (1)
- Raytheon (1)
- Readiness Assessment Report (1)
- Rebranding (1)
- Redmond (1)
- Richard Hendricks (1)
- Rijndael (1)
- Rohit Sethi (1)
- Ryan Thomas (1)
- SC Magazine (1)
- SC-13 (1)
- SC-28 (1)
- SC-8 (1)
- SLED (1)
- SP (1)
- SP 800-113 (1)
- SP 800-56 (1)
- SP 800-77 (1)
- SP800-131A (1)
- SP800-90A (1)
- SSLv3 (1)
- Samsung Galaxy (1)
- Sands (1)
- Sands Expo (1)
- Satcom (1)
- Schneier (1)
- Sean Kerner (1)
- SecureAuth (1)
- Security B-Sides (1)
- Security Compass (1)
- SecurityToday (1)
- September 22 (1)
- Sergey Brin (1)
- Seth Rosenblatt (1)
- Sethi (1)
- Signal Magazine (1)
- Simon (1)
- Skipjack (1)
- Skunk Works (1)
- Skunkworks (1)
- Skydrive (1)
- Snooper's Charter (1)
- Softshell (1)
- Sony (1)
- Speck (1)
- Squanto (1)
- St Regis (1)
- StateRAMP (1)
- Steve Jobs (1)
- Surface (1)
- Susan McAndrew (1)
- Sweet32 (1)
- Symantec (1)
- TLS 1.1 (1)
- TLS 1.2 (1)
- TSMC (1)
- Taming the Transition (1)
- Taming the Transition: Marketing & Sales Tacti (1)
- Tanuj Gulati (1)
- Target (1)
- Target breach (1)
- Tesla (1)
- Theresa May (1)
- Thomas (1)
- Tim Hudson (1)
- Tisquantum (1)
- Tizen (1)
- Tom Cruise (1)
- Toyota (1)
- Toyota Prius (1)
- Triple DES (1)
- Trump (1)
- U.K. (1)
- U.S. Air Force (1)
- U.S. Army (1)
- U.S. Marines (1)
- U.S. Military (1)
- U.S. Navy (1)
- US Air Force (1)
- US Army (1)
- US Marines (1)
- US Military (1)
- US Navy (1)
- USMC (1)
- United Kingdom (1)
- United States (1)
- United States of America (1)
- Up24 (1)
- Vectra (1)
- Vectra Networks (1)
- Venetian (1)
- Verify (1)
- WEST (1)
- WEST 2020 (1)
- Wall Street (1)
- Weaved (1)
- Websense (1)
- WhatsApp (1)
- White House (1)
- Wiebe (1)
- Wired.co.uk (1)
- Wireless U (1)
- WolfSSL (1)
- Yahoo (1)
- Yier Jin (1)
- Yoics (1)
- You're fired! (1)
- Yubico (1)
- abbreviation (1)
- abbreviations (1)
- achieve (1)
- acronym (1)
- acronyms (1)
- administration (1)
- advantage (1)
- appointee (1)
- archival (1)
- assurance (1)
- authentication (1)
- autumn (1)
- aviation (1)
- background (1)
- ban (1)
- banish (1)
- banished (1)
- banishment (1)
- banned (1)
- batterygate (1)
- benchmarks (1)
- best (1)
- bid (1)
- blue angel (1)
- blue angels (1)
- bold (1)
- browser (1)
- bugs (1)
- calendar (1)
- capitol (1)
- certicom (1)
- challenge (1)
- champ (1)
- champion (1)
- channel (1)
- checklist (1)
- checkmarks (1)
- chief (1)
- chip (1)
- chipgate (1)
- choice (1)
- choose (1)
- chosen (1)
- cipher (1)
- citizen (1)
- citizenship (1)
- co-founder (1)
- codebase (1)
- codies (1)
- comment period (1)
- comparison (1)
- compete (1)
- competitive (1)
- competitive advantage (1)
- complaint (1)
- complaints (1)
- complete (1)
- concurrent (1)
- confusion (1)
- congress (1)
- contract (1)
- crime (1)
- criminal (1)
- critical infrastructure (1)
- cryptographer (1)
- cybertech (1)
- data (1)
- data center (1)
- data centers (1)
- data security (1)
- dates (1)
- david hume (1)
- debt ceiling (1)
- decryption (1)
- deploy (1)
- deployment (1)
- development (1)
- dictionary (1)
- differentiator (1)
- disambiguate (1)
- download (1)
- drones (1)
- eBay (1)
- eBay breach (1)
- eHealth (1)
- eWeek (1)
- editor (1)
- editor-in-chief (1)
- effort (1)
- elliptic curve cryptography (1)
- embedded (1)
- emerging (1)
- engineer (1)
- engineering (1)
- enterprise security (1)
- executive (1)
- exhibit (1)
- exhibit hall (1)
- expectations (1)
- expert (1)
- expertise (1)
- experts (1)
- expiration (1)
- expire (1)
- extended (1)
- fall (1)
- faq (1)
- finalist (1)
- finalists (1)
- financial (1)
- fines (1)
- fintech (1)
- fips inside (1)
- fiscal (1)
- fiscal year (1)
- fitness tracker (1)
- fitness trackers (1)
- fix (1)
- fixes (1)
- flight (1)
- forecast (1)
- format-preserving (1)
- format-preserving encryption (1)
- fraud (1)
- frempetitor (1)
- frempetitors (1)
- frenemies (1)
- frenemy (1)
- furlough (1)
- future (1)
- global (1)
- globee (1)
- glossary (1)
- goose (1)
- gotcha (1)
- gov (1)
- gov't (1)
- guest blog (1)
- guest post (1)
- hashed (1)
- head-to-head (1)
- heads up displays (1)
- hill (1)
- hiring freeze (1)
- history (1)
- home automation (1)
- homeland (1)
- honor (1)
- honored (1)
- hospital (1)
- human rights (1)
- hume (1)
- humor (1)
- hurdles (1)
- iMessage (1)
- iOS (1)
- iOS 7 (1)
- iPad (1)
- iToilet (1)
- industry (1)
- intellectual property (1)
- interim final rule (1)
- international (1)
- interview (1)
- issues (1)
- kratos (1)
- launch (1)
- law enforcement (1)
- libgcrypt (1)
- malicious (1)
- maverick (1)
- medals (1)
- medical (1)
- medicine (1)
- meek (1)
- milestone (1)
- mobile security (1)
- mobility (1)
- mocana (1)
- money (1)
- multi-factor (1)
- multi-factor authentication (1)
- musings (1)
- national cybersecurity strategy (1)
- naval aviator (1)
- need for speed (1)
- neglect (1)
- network (1)
- new (1)
- new OSSL (1)
- news (1)
- nominate (1)
- nominated (1)
- nominee (1)
- nominees (1)
- offload (1)
- opportunities (1)
- opportunity (1)
- outsource (1)
- panel (1)
- parallel (1)
- passwords (1)
- past (1)
- patient data (1)
- philosopher (1)
- philosophy (1)
- physician (1)
- piece (1)
- pilots (1)
- plane (1)
- plans (1)
- platinum (1)
- post (1)
- presentation (1)
- press release (1)
- priorities (1)
- priority (1)
- prize (1)
- profile (1)
- proposal (1)
- proposed (1)
- proud (1)
- provider (1)
- public (1)
- public comment (1)
- public comment period (1)
- public list (1)
- quant (1)
- quant self (1)
- quantified (1)
- quantified self (1)
- queue length (1)
- quinquennial (1)
- re-validate (1)
- reflection (1)
- regulations (1)
- representatives (1)
- required (1)
- requirement (1)
- researchers (1)
- reseller (1)
- revalidate (1)
- revenue (1)
- revoke (1)
- revoked (1)
- rights (1)
- rivals (1)
- roadblock (1)
- roadmap (1)
- rsa conference (1)
- sales (1)
- salted (1)
- savings (1)
- scalability (1)
- season (1)
- security software (1)
- select (1)
- selected (1)
- selection (1)
- self-driving (1)
- self-driving car (1)
- senate (1)
- senators (1)
- server (1)
- servers (1)
- silver (1)
- simplify (1)
- smart cars (1)
- smart home (1)
- smart toilet (1)
- smartwatch (1)
- sole source provider (1)
- sole-source (1)
- speak (1)
- speaking session (1)
- specialization (1)
- stand for (1)
- standards (1)
- start-up (1)
- state (1)
- stealth mode (1)
- stigma (1)
- story (1)
- strategy (1)
- success (1)
- summer (1)
- sunet (1)
- sunset date (1)
- sunsetted (1)
- symposium (1)
- talk (1)
- tech (1)
- technical (1)
- term (1)
- terminology (1)
- terms (1)
- threat detection (1)
- threats (1)
- toilet (1)
- top gun (1)
- training (1)
- trophy (1)
- unicorn (1)
- use cases (1)
- value (1)
- vendors (1)
- website (1)
- whining (1)
- whistleblower (1)
- whistleblowing (1)
- wifi (1)
- wrap (1)
- wrap-up (1)