Microsoft Expands TLS, Forward Secrecy Support

Microsoft is no exception when it comes to large technology providers committing to encrypting the services its users depend on. Today, the company announced an update on the progress it has made in engineering those changes, including the news that Outlook.com, its web-based email service,...

openSUSE Security Update : tor (openSUSE-SU-2014:0719-1) (Heartbleed)

tor 0.2.4.22 bnc878486 Tor was updated to the recommended version of the 0.2.4.x series. - major features in 0.2.4.x : - improved client resilience - support better link encryption with forward secrecy - new NTor circuit handshake - change relay queue for circuit create requests from size-based...

Mandriva Linux Security Advisory : tor (MDVSA-2014:123)

Updated tor packages fix multiple vulnerabilities : Tor before 0.2.4.20, when OpenSSL 1.x is used in conjunction with a certain HardwareAccel setting on Intel Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge platforms, does not properly generate random numbers for relay identity keys and hidden-service identity keys,...

WordPress to Deploy SSL on All its Sites by End of 2014

The movement by technology companies to encrypt their respective corners of the Internet continues to gain steam as more and more are enabling SSL and other encryption technologies such as Perfect Forward Secrecy to ward off surveillance and enhance the privacy and security of user data. WordPres...

SMTP STARTTLS Deployments Better than Expected

As more service providers understand and embrace the importance of encrypting online communication, certain technologies are being elevated to the forefront of conversations. Perfect Forward Secrecy and HTTP Strict Transport Security HSTS are two that generally top most lists, but another, SMTP...

TLS 1.3 Has Consensus to Deprectate RSA Key Transport

The IETF working group responsible for the TLS 1.3 standard is closing in on a decision to remove RSA key transport cipher suites from the protocol. Decades-old RSA-based handshakes don’t cut it anymore, according to experts, who are anxious to put a modern protocol in place, one that can fend of...

OpenSSL TLS heartbeat extension read overflow discloses sensitive information

Overview OpenSSL 1.0.1 and 1.0.2 beta contain a vulnerability that could disclose sensitive private information to an attacker. This vulnerability is commonly referred to as "heartbleed." Description OpenSSL versions 1.0.1 through 1.0.1f and 1.0.2 beta through 1.0.2-beta1 contain a flaw in its...

IE 12 to Support HSTS Encryption Protocol

Microsoft confirmed today it will support HTTPS Strict Transport Protocol HSTS in Internet Explorer 12, bringing its browser in line with other major vendors in its support of the protocol. Browsers supporting HSTS force any sessions sent over HTTP to be sent instead over HTTPS, encrypting...

Yahoo Encrypts Data Center Communication Links

Yahoo certainly has taken its share of knocks during the past nine months of surveillance revelations and Snowden leaks for its encryption shortcomings. But the bruises are healing and the company is slowly working its way back into good graces. After months of being an encryption laggard, Yahoo...

YAHOO! Now Encrypts Everything; Encrypted Yahoo Messenger Coming Soon

ON HIGH-PRIORITY YAHOO! is finally rolling out encryption implementation over their site and services in order to protect users. Yahoo is rapidly becoming one of the most aggressive supporters of encryption, as in January this year Yahoo enabled the HTTPS connections by default, that automaticall...

Encrypted Chat Service 'Cryptocat' released iOS app

http://end-to-end%20encryption%2C%20nsa%2C%20cryptocat%2C%20ios%2C%20apple%20app%20store%2C%20download%20app%2C%20secure%20chat%2C%20off-the-record%20messaging%2C...

TextSecure Provides Seamless Encryption for All Levels

TextSecure, the secure messaging app developed by the encrypted communication provider WhisperSystems, is no longer merely a private short messaging service SMS application. According to a blog post penned by WhisperSystems co-founder Moxie Marlinspike, TextSecure is now a private, asynchronous...

Yahoo Encryption Slammed for Lack of Forward Secrecy, HSTS

Yahoo, as promised, rolled out HTTPs by default this week for its email service, bringing it in line with other Internet companies that have been securing users’ communication for years. But if Yahoo expected applause from security experts, it can think again. The response from those well-versed ...

New IETF Group to Tackle TLS Implementation in Applications

The NSA surveillance scandal has created ripples all across the Internet, and the latest one is a new effort from the IETF to change the way that encryption is used in a variety of critical application protocols, including HTTP and SMTP. The new TLS application working group was formed to help...

TextSecure Integrated into CyanogenMod SMS App for Android

With the depths of domestic government surveillance still not fully realized, secure communications capabilities are at a premium, especially for the privacy conscious. Already, we’ve seen some services such as Lavabit and Silent Circle’s Silent Mail shudder operations rather than hand over...

Microsoft Expands Encryption Use in Cloud Services to Thwart Surveillance

In response to the growing set of revelations about the NSA’s surveillance methods and alleged compromise of some large technology vendors’ services, Microsoft is taking a number of steps to try and reassure customers about the integrity of the company’s offerings and to greatly expand the use of...

Matthew Green on How NSA Breaks SSL

In order for the National Security Agency to collect the massive amounts of communication it has from email and Web traffic, it needs to elude, leapfrog or bash through the barrier that is SSL. How it’s doing so is the real question, one that noted Johns Hopkins cryptographer Matthew Green wants...

Twitter Implements Perfect Forward Secrecy

Twitter took another step toward not only securing the privacy of its users’ communication over the social network, but in warding off the prying eyes of government surveillance with the implementation of Perfect Forward Secrecy. The technology thwarts the efforts of anyone who may be collecting...

EFF Encrypt the Web Report Shows Crypto Leaders, Laggards

There’s nothing like a little peer pressure to nudge someone toward doing the right thing. That’s the philosophy behind the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Encrypt the Web Report, which examines the encryption capabilities of 18 leading Internet companies, including large carriers, social...

HTTP/2 Supports only HTTPS URIs

The head of the working group designing the next version of HTTP said the HTTP/2 protocol will work only with encrypted URIs. “I believe the best way that we can meet the goal of increasing use of TLS on the Web is to encourage its use by only using HTTP/2.0 with https:// URIs,” wrote Mark...