Civil Liberties

Encryption Standards Body Denies Letting NSA Weaken Cryptography

Too late. You're blown.

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NIST, the group that oversees encryption standards in the US, said Tuesday that it "would not deliberately weaken a cryptographic standard." The statement comes amid concern that the National Security Agency may have meddled with a method adopted by the group, in order to gain a back door for surveillance.

"Recent news reports have questioned the cryptographic standards development process at NIST," reads a statement issued today by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. "We want to assure the IT cybersecurity community that the transparent, public process used to rigorously vet our standards is still in place."