http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/03/01/post_cryptography_security_shamir/ By John Leyden The Register 1st March 2013 Cryptography is ‘becoming less important’ because of state-sponsored malware, according to one of the founding fathers of public-key encryption. Turing award-winning cryptographer Adi Shamir (the S in RSA) said the whole basis of modern cryptography is under severe strain from attacks on security infrastructure such as the attack on app whitelisting firm Bit9 and problems with certificate authorities such as Turktrust, two recent examples of trends that have been going on for some years. “I definitely believe cryptography is becoming less important,” Shamir said. “Intelligence gathering services around the world are going through a phase shift. In the 19th century if you wanted to know the plans of Napoleon you need a CIA-type agent next to him. In the 20th century if you wanted to know the plans of Hitler during the Second World War you had listen to the communication and break the crypto, this was an NSA-type operation.” In the 21st century these approaches are becoming less useful, with hacking and Advanced Persistent Threat-type attacks featuring spear-phishing and custom malware becoming more important to spies, according to Shamir. The US is quadrupling the size of its cyber-combat unit for a reason, he said. […] ______________________________________________ Visit the InfoSec News Security Bookstore Best Selling Security Books and More! http://www.shopinfosecnews.org