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Math Flub Could Doom Online Safety

Posted Nov 17, 07 11:57 AM CST in Technology 

(Newser) – A small glitch in a computer chip—hypothetical so far—could allow hackers to steal private information from millions of PCs, a renowned cryptographer warns colleagues. Adi Shamir, an Israeli professor who helped design software guarding e-commerce transactions, wrote that a simple math mistake could cause a computer’s security software to be “trivially broken,” the New York Times reports.

Similar errors have already been discovered. Both Microsoft Excel and Intel’s Pentium microprocessor contained mathematical bugs. Shamir, though, warns of bigger trouble. “Millions of PCs can be attacked simultaneously,” wrote Shamir, if hackers learn of and exploit a math flaw in a widely used chip. But experts say such flaws are difficult to detect because a company’s designs are protected by laws governing trade secrets.

Source New York Times

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Adi Shamir   (Getty Images)
Adi Shamir   (Getty Images)
The Intel logo is seen outside their Robert N. Noyce building in Santa Clara, Calif. in this July 16, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)   (Associated Press)
Intel processor.   (Associated Press)
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Israel  • Intel  • microprocessors  • Microsoft Excel  • cryptography



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