Chinese Researchers Compromise SHA-1 Hashing Algorithm

KingFishKingFish
edited February 2005 in Science & Tech
A team of three Chinese researchers have compromised the SHA-1 hashing algorithm at the core of many of today's mainstream security products.
Top cryptographers said users can still rely on today's SHA-1-based systems and applications, but next-generation products will need to move to new algorithms.

In a panel discussion at the RSA Conference here Tuesday (Feb. 15), Adi Shamir, a celebrated cryptographer and professor at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, said he received an email that morning containing a draft technical paper from the research team of Xiaoyun Wang, Lisa Yiqun Yin, and Hongbo Yu who have links to Shandong University in China.

The paper described how two separate documents could be manipulated to deliver the same SHA-1 hash with a computation of lower complexity level than previously believed possible.

The SHA-1 hash is broadly used to create digital certificates. It is a key technical underpinning of Secure Sockets Layer, a private-key technology used broadly to send secure information such as credit card numbers over the Internet.
Source: EE Times

Comments

  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    ...and back to the drawing board! :shakehead
  • deicistdeicist Manchester, UK
    edited February 2005
    heh heh 'Wang'
  • Private_SnoballPrivate_Snoball Dover AFB, DE, USA
    edited February 2005
    Wow, I wonder how long they were working on it. Not to say that we should overlook the fact that they did, I'm just curious how long it took, jeez I bet that was one hell of an algorithm.
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