In an advisory note to its developer customers, RSA said that a default algorithm in one of its toolkits could contain a "back door" that would allow the NSA to decrypt encrypted data. It "strongly recommends" switching to other random number generators. RSA is reviewing all its products.
The advice comes in the wake of New York Times allegations that the NSA may have intentionally introduced a flaw into the algorithm - known as Dual Elliptic Curve Deterministic Random Bit Generation - and then tried to get it adopted as a security standard by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.
In the 1990s, the NSA tried to claim the right to unlock all encryption systems, but lost the battle after privacy rights and freedom of speech advocates objected. The NSA maintains that it needs to be able to decipher encrypted communications to protect the US against terrorism and organised crime.
One of the NSA's tactics has been to persuade leading technology companies, such as Microsoft and Google, to co-operate with the security services in providing access to user data. Privacy rights campaigners have been concerned over how far this co-operation may extend.
Source: BBC News
