RSA, One of the most influential computer security firms has received $10 million contract with NSA so that it could crack into RSA security software. According to exclusive report by Reuters, this was a secret deal and was a part of PRISM.
Documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that NSA has created and then promoted a flawed formula for generating random numbers for creating backdoor in RSA encryption products. Later, RSA distributed that by rolling it into a software called Bsafe. Bsafe is now widely used as a security enhancement tool in many computer systems and servers.
“Although that sum might seem paltry, it represented more than a third of the revenue that the relevant division at RSA had taken in during the entire previous year, securities filings show,” Reuters commented on this.
RSA is now a part of EMC Corporation, computer storage company. In September this year, EMC Corp has also requested its customers to stop using the NSA formula after the Snowden disclosure revealed the weakness in Bsafe.
RSA and EMC both declined to comment on this disclosure. NSA has also declined to comment on this.
Source: Reuters
