I can’t evalute the accuracy or the importance of this report (and I doubt I’ll blog much by way of follow-up), but I thought I’d pass it along for those who are interested. From news.com.
UPDATE: Henry Farrell points out that computer science professor Ed Felten (Freedom to Tinker) has several posts on this; here are the first and the last. Felten’s bottom-line: “Where does this leave us? MD5 [one prominent algorithm] is fatally wounded; its use will be phased out. SHA-1 [another] is still alive but the vultures are circling. A gradual transition away from SHA-1 will now start. The first stage will be a debate about alternatives, leading (I hope) to a consensus among practicing cryptographers about what the substitute will be.”
Oh, and thanks to BNA’s Internet Law News for the original tip.
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