Lord of the Web

Verisign has cancelled its MD5 certificates after it has been proved by researchers that a flaw in it could allow hackers to impersonate sites that were supposed to be secure and free from just this kind of impersonation. The researchers had demonstrated an attack that would forge SSL cerftificates, which are used to check whether the connection between the web site and the client (that means you!) is secure.

Verisign has said that the more advanced SHA-1 algorithm would replace the flawed MD5 algorithm. It also appreciated the researchers for working towards the “benefit of the broader Internet community”. What else could Verisign say, really?

The most interesting thing about the attack (the fact that you could actually be dealing with a hacker the next time you visit your bank’s online portal is not so interesting a fact) was that, about 200 PS3s ( yeah, yeah, it’s the sinking ship of a Playstation 3 that I am talking about) were used for cracking and forging the certificates. I don’t know whether they considered this forging to be a mere game, but this was no game when it came to Verisign, which has been giving lots of press releases and updates and what not!

As I was saying, whether the internet gets secure or not ( and again as I was saying, thats not importan), Sony can be expected to market PS3 as a hacking tool (hey it’s got Blue-Ray you know, that means more hacking softwares can be used at the same time), given the fact that its too huge a price tag has made gamers to turn towards the Wii and the Xbox 360. You can surely see a rise in the PS3 sales ( and Sony, please name your next console in a more creative manner. A PS4 name is not going to get you any gamers or hackers).