NSA and IETF: Fairness
6 hours ago
- #Security
- #IETF
- #Cryptography
- NSA historically weakened cryptographic standards, including DES, RC4, and RSA-512, and sabotaged random number generators to enable exploitation.
- The IETF TLS working group is voting on an NSA-driven RFC for solo ML-KEM in TLS, risking widespread deployment despite security concerns.
- Opposition to solo ML-KEM is growing, with over 60 objections citing security risks, while proponents push for adoption with flawed arguments.
- IETF procedures show a pro-endorsement bias: repeated 'last calls' allow document advancement even with unresolved objections, favoring entities like NSA and defense contractors.
- Voting against the spec or staying silent has asymmetric consequences: opposition encourages discussion and delays potential security sabotage, while support risks immediate harm to millions of users.