Crypto researchers: Time to use something better than 1024-bit encryption

It’s actually possible for entities with vast computing resources – such as the NSA and major national governments – to compromise commonly used Diffie-Hellman key exchange groups, so it’s time for businesses to switch to something else like elliptic curve cryptography, researchers say.

“It’s been recommended to move from 1024-bit [encryption] for a long time, and now there are very concrete risks of not doing that,” says Nadia Heninger, an assistant professor of computer and information science at the University of Pennsylvania who is an author of a paper titled “Imperfect Forward Secrecy: How Diffie-Hellman Fails in Practice”.

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