East-Tec Logo
NSA-linked RSA Algorithm Is Not Used In Our Encryption Software Products

NSA-linked RSA Algorithm Is Not Used In Our Encryption Software Products

2 min read

Share on

Ever since the NSA Prism activities have been brought to our attention, the the need for keeping our data private by encrypting it has become more relevant than ever. Ironically enough, a recent statement by RSA, an Internet security firm, revealed that one algorithm its products use, might contain an NSA backdoor. You can read the related BBC article here.

Since many of our customers have been using our encryption software products, we thought it was necessary to reassure them that the Dual Elliptic Curve Deterministic Random Bit Generator (the infamous NSA-linked RSA algorithm in question) is not employed by either east-tec InvisibleSecrets, or east-tec SafeBit.

Furthermore, it is very important to make it clear that the vulnerability of the Dual EC DRBG algorithm has been a subject of concern straight from its appearance on the market in 2006 and that fact made many vendors, including East-Tec, not to use it as cipher in their encryption products. (Bruce Schneier's post from 2007 gives you a deeper insight into the nature of the problem and why it is believed that the NSA could have indeed been using Dual EC DRBG as a backdoor).

We have always been particularly careful to only employ algorithms in our products that have the best reputation and are known for providing the highest level of security and privacy. Therefore, we can safely state that none of the algorithms we use have known backdoor issues.

In spite of the NSA privacy issues, encryption in general, still remains a very important privacy security practice that, if properly implemented, guarantees protection against hackers, data breach, and identity theft. We would like to encourage those customers who have been doing so to keep using our encryption software products with total peace of mind. Even Snowden himself has confirmed that Encryption works. Properly implemented strong crypto systems are one of the few things that you can rely on when asked if encryption can guarantee privacy against the NSA. And to those who haven't used encryption software products yet, we highly recommend to learn more about the concept of encryption, or try east-tec InvisibleSecrets and east-tec SafeBit.