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Category — NIST
NIST and HIPAA: Is There a Password Connection?

NIST and HIPAA: Is There a Password Connection?

Apr 08, 2021
When dealing with user data, it's essential that we design our password policies around compliance. These policies are defined both internally and externally. While companies uphold their own password standards, outside forces like HIPAA and NIST have a heavy influence. Impacts are defined by industry and one's unique infrastructure. How do IT departments maintain compliance with NIST and HIPAA? We'll discuss each compliance measure and its importance in this article. What is NIST compliance? Defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST compliance aims to harden federal systems against cyber-attacks. While the agency is non-regulatory, it  is  part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, which has plenty of influence over government agencies and their contractors. For example, NIST guidelines help agencies  satisfy the requirements of the Federal Information Security Management Act  (FISMA). NIST is instrumental in creating Federal Informatio...
NIST Calls Development of Quantum-Proof Encryption Algorithms

NIST Calls Development of Quantum-Proof Encryption Algorithms

Dec 22, 2016
Quantum Computers – Boon or Bane? Quantum computers can perform operations much more quickly and efficiently even with the use of less energy than conventional computers, but that's bad news for encryption — a process which scrambles data according to a massively complex mathematical code. In theory, quantum computers can break almost all the existing encryption algorithms used on the Internet today due to their immense computing power. Quantum computers are not just in theories; they're becoming a reality. With countries like China that holds the top two position in the world's most powerful supercomputers (Sunway TaihuLight and Tianhe-2), followed by the United States' Titan, the day is not far when Quantum computers will work on an industrial scale. Although it's hard to move quantum computing to an industrial scale, it has become a matter of concern for the United States' National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) over the fact that...
Watch Out For These 8 Cloud Security Shifts in 2025

Watch Out For These 8 Cloud Security Shifts in 2025

Feb 04, 2025Threat Detection / Cloud Security
As cloud security evolves in 2025 and beyond, organizations must adapt to both new and evolving realities, including the increasing reliance on cloud infrastructure for AI-driven workflows and the vast quantities of data being migrated to the cloud. But there are other developments that could impact your organizations and drive the need for an even more robust security strategy. Let's take a look… #1: Increased Threat Landscape Encourages Market Consolidation Cyberattacks targeting cloud environments are becoming more sophisticated, emphasizing the need for security solutions that go beyond detection. Organizations will need proactive defense mechanisms to prevent risks from reaching production. Because of this need, the market will favor vendors offering comprehensive, end-to-end security platforms that streamline risk mitigation and enhance operational efficiency. #2: Cloud Security Unifies with SOC Priorities Security operations centers (SOC) and cloud security functions are c...
End of SMS-based 2-Factor Authentication; Yes, It's Insecure!

End of SMS-based 2-Factor Authentication; Yes, It's Insecure!

Jul 27, 2016
SMS-based Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) has been declared insecure and soon it might be a thing of the past. Two-Factor Authentication or 2FA adds an extra step of entering a random passcode sent to you via an SMS or call when you log in to your account as an added layer of protection. For example, if you have 2FA enabled on Gmail, the platform will send a six-digit passcode to your mobile phone every time you sign in to your account. But, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a new draft of its Digital Authentication Guideline that says SMS-based two-factor authentication should be banned in future due to security concerns. Here's what the relevant paragraph of the latest DAG draft reads: "If the out of band verification is to be made using an SMS message on a public mobile telephone network, the verifier SHALL verify that the pre-registered telephone number being used is actually associated with a mobile network and not wi...
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websitePush SecurityAI Agents / Identity Security
Watch how Computer-Using Agents can be used by attackers to automate account takeover and exploitation.
NIST Removes Dual_EC_DRBG Random Number Generator from Recommendations

NIST Removes Dual_EC_DRBG Random Number Generator from Recommendations

Apr 23, 2014
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced to abandon the controversial  Dual Elliptic Curve Deterministic  Random Bit Generator,  better known as  Dual_EC_DRBG in the wake of allegations that the National Security Agency. Back in December, Edward Snowden leaks revealed that RSA received $10 million bribe from NSA under a secret contract to implement their flawed cryptographic algorithm Dual_EC_DRBG in its bSafe Security tool as the default protocol in its products for keeping Encryption Weak . In response to the accusations on NSA and RSA, and despite RSA denied all the accusations. without wasting time NIST issued an announcement recommending against using Dual_EC_DRBG and abandon the cryptographic algorithm from its revised guidance provided in the Recommendation for Random Number Generation Using Deterministic Random Bit Generators ( NIST Special Publication 800-90A, Rev.1 ). But it didn't remove it from its rand...
98% of SSL enabled websites still using SHA-1 based weak Digital Certificates

98% of SSL enabled websites still using SHA-1 based weak Digital Certificates

Feb 06, 2014
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) had published a document on Jan 2011 that the SHA-1 algorithm will be risky and should be disallowed after year 2013, but it was recently noticed by Netcraft experts that NIST.gov website itself were using 2014 dated SSL certificate with SHA-1 hashes. " From January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2013, the use of SHA-1 is deprecated for digital signature generation. The user must accept risk when SHA-1 is used, particularly when approaching the December 31, 2013 upper limit. SHA-1 shall not be used for digital signature generation after December 31, 2013. " NIST in the document. Digital signatures facilitate the safe exchange of electronic documents by providing a way to test both the authenticity and the integrity of information exchanged digitally. Authenticity means when you sign data with a digital signature, someone else can verify the signature, and can confirm that the data originated from you and was not...
NIST National Vulnerability Database hacked

NIST National Vulnerability Database hacked

Mar 14, 2013
The U.S. government repository of standards based vulnerability management website National Vulnerability Database (NVD) was hacked by some unknown attacker last week. The website of NVD ( https://nvd.nist.gov/index.html ) is down since Friday due to a malware infection on two web servers, discovered on Wednesday. The main page of website reads," The NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD) has experienced an issue with its Web Services and is currently not available. We are working to restore service as quickly as possible. We will provide updates as soon as new information is available ." According to a post available on Google+ by Kim Halavakoski , who contacted NIST Public Inquiries Office to know about the issue," On Friday March 8, a NIST firewall detected suspicious activity and took steps to block unusual traffic from reaching the Internet. NIST began investigating the cause of the unusual activity and the servers were taken offline. Malware was ...
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