Financial institutions and others eagerly awaiting a new encryption standard to protect their data will have to wait a little longer. The version in the pipeline has been exposed as potentially vulnerable, and the group overseeing the standard has been forced to delay its adoption, The New York Times reported. Computer scientists Eli Biham of Israel and Lars Knudsen of Norway say that in certain circumstances the proposed new version of "triple DES" may be no more secure than the current code. Biham told The Times that their demonstration of a theoretical problem with the code did not represent a way to break it, but did show its weakness. As a result, a committee of the American National Standards Institute is reviewing a revised version of the new standard, and it will be months before it is adopted.
Bump in the Road for Encryption Standard
The version now in the works has been labeled vulnerable, and the group overseeing the standard plans to delay its adoption -- meaning it could be months before a new standard is adopted.
