Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer

Undisclosed until now was that RSA received $10 million in a deal that set the NSA formula as the preferred, or default, method for number generation in the BSafe software, according to two sources familiar with the contract. Although that sum might seem paltry, it represented more than a third of the revenue that the relevant division at RSA had taken in during the entire previous year, securities filings show.

via Exclusive: Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer | Reuters.

RSA, now a subsidiary of computer storage giant EMC Corp, urged customers to stop using the NSA formula after the Snowden disclosures revealed its weakness.

An interesting link came up in the Slashdot comment section.  From: [Cfrg] Requesting removal of CFRG co-chair

I’d like to request the removal of Kevin Igoe from CFRG co-chair.

The Crypto Forum Research Group is chartered to provide crypto advice to IETF Working Groups. As CFRG co-chair for the last 2 years, Kevin has shaped CFRG discussion and provided CFRG opinion to WGs.

Kevin’s handling of the “Dragonfly” protocol raises doubts that he is performing these duties competently. Additionally, Kevin’s employment with the National Security Agency raises conflict-of-interest concerns.

LOL. No one trusts the NSA anymore.