Security vendor RSA has sent out a message to customers warning developers not to use one of its encryption algorithms. “To ensure a high level of assurance in their application, RSA strongly recommends that customers discontinue use of Dual EC DRBG and move to a different PRNG,” stated the RSA advisory. “Technical guidance, including how to change the default PRNG in most libraries, is available in the most current product documentation.”
Last week, The New York Times reported that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) inserted a backdoor into the Dual EC DRBG standard. Many academics and security experts have expressed concerns about this particular encryption algorithm in the past.
It isn’t known how many commercial products or internally developed enterprise applications currently use the standard.
