Cryptographer Marc Stevens has managed to crack the SHA1 algorithm. This is used to give every email, every payment and each password a unique fingerprint.
image by cwi.nl
Stevens works at the Centre for Mathematics and Computer Science in Amsterdam. Stevens and his team succeeded. along with Google that two PDF files got the same fingerprint.
From beginning to end, there were 9.2 trillion (billion x billion) calculations necessary to pull it off.
Steven says:
You can create fake signatures, that was demonstrated in theory, but we have now shown in practice.
SHA1 is still used in browsers. Stevens calls to step up to the stronger successor, SHA2. Google Chrome has already done so, Mozilla Firefox does it soon.
Source: Centre for Mathematics and Computer Science in Amsterdam CWI
Edit: style adjustment, spelling
Hope you are well!
David
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