eMudhra’s Weak Private Keys: When Internet Trust Fails at Randomness

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A certificate authority issued intermediate TLS keys with so little randomness that researchers could recreate them, putting browser trust, certificate revocation, and the systems beyond the browser under a harsh spotlight.

Tom Eston, Scott Wright, and Kevin Tackett explain the certificate chain in plain English, why a public key is meant to be shared while a private key must stay unpredictable, and why organizations need to account for trust stores in browsers, Java, appliances, containers, and embedded systems.

Special thanks to Guardsquare for sponsoring this episode! Guardsquare is the leader in mobile application security, with multi-layered protection for your Android and iOS apps. Learn more at Guardsquare.com.

** Links mentioned on the show **

CyberScoop — eMudhra kills its certificate business after researchers cracked its private keys in under a second
https://cyberscoop.com/emudhra-shuts-down-certificate-business-weak-private-keys/

PCWorld — Microsoft pulls 7 eMudhra certificates from Windows. Here’s what that means
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3270717/microsoft-pulls-7-emudhra-certificates-from-windows-heres-what-that-means.html

Computerworld — eMudhra quits global TLS certificate market after compromise of CA signing keys
https://www.computerworld.com/article/4239619/emudhra-quits-global-tls-certificate-market-after-compromise-of-ca-signing-keys.html

Free Press Journal — eMudhra apologises after weak keys expose eight certificate authorities
https://www.freepressjournal.in/tech/emudhra-apologises-after-weak-keys-expose-eight-certificate-authorities-exits-global-ssltls-business

Purchase Scott Wright’s new book “The Digital Legacy Tree: Ensuring your loved ones can access the important parts of your digital life when it matters most”
https://www.amazon.ca/Digital-Legacy-Tree-Ensuring-important-ebook/dp/B0HN6B8Z7F

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