Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud
    • Cybersecurity
    • Networking

    Another Certificate Authority Compromised: No Fake SSL Certificates Issued

    Written by

    Fahmida Y. Rashid
    Published June 23, 2011
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      StartSSL, a certification authority offering free SSL certificates, was compromised by unknown attackers earlier this month. The company has suspended issuing security certificates for Websites as a “defensive measure.”

      Attackers hit StartSSL on June 15, and the company suspended issuing SSL certificates indefinitely, according to a short statement on the site. Secure Sockets Layer is used by Websites around the world as a trust mechanism to convince the Web browser the site the user is accessing is the authentic version and not a counterfeit one. Certificates that have already been issued to customers were not compromised, and visitors to those sites are not affected, according to the statement.

      Unlike the attacks on Comodo and other certificate authorities, these attackers did not gain enough access to issue valid certificates for arbitrary domains to themselves, StartSSL said. The attackers were also unsuccessful in generating an intermediate certificate that would allow them to act as their own certificate authority, The Register reported.

      “Due to a security breach that occurred at the 15th of June, issuance of digital certificates and related services has been suspended. Our services will remain offline until further notice,” StartSSL said.

      It’s not clear what the attackers were able to access, nor what it means for the company’s ability to continue issuing certificates in the future.

      “Our services will be gradually reinstated as the situation allows,” the company said on the site. The message was still on the site as of June 22.

      The company stressed that existing certificates were not compromised. More than 25,000 Websites use certificates issued by StartSSL, according to Paul Mutton, a security researcher with British security firm Netcraft.

      StartSSL offers one-year free domain validated SSL certificates as well as other organization and extended validation certificates. AffirmTrust offers three-year domain validated SSL certificates for free.

      The StartSSL attack follows earlier attacks on other certificate authorities and is the fifth one this year. Root certificate authority Comodo was compromised in March when an attacker breached a reseller’s system and received several valid certificates for major domains. Certificates for seven addresses were forged, including Google mail, www.google.com, login.yahoo.com, login.skype.com, addons.mozilla.com and Microsoft’s login.live.com.

      Comodo detected the problem almost immediately and revoked the certificates before they could be used. Microsoft, Mozilla and Google pushed out updates to blacklist those certificates, but it still took a few days. Apple took much longer to update Safari.

      StartSSL certificates are accepted by default by most major browsers, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. Once a certificate authority’s root certificate is included within a browser, it can validate hundreds of thousands of individual Websites, making it impractical to remove the compromised authority from the browser entirely.

      The attackers were after valid certificates for a list of Websites similar to those targeted by the Comodo attacker, Eddy Nigg, CTO and COO of StartSSL’s parent company StartCom, told The Register. The attack did not succeed because the authority’s private encryption key was stored on a computer that isn’t connected to the Internet, Nigg said.

      The incident highlighted the lack of security in the worldwide certificate authority structure. There were too many authorities and the system was not being implemented as designed, James Lyne, director of technology strategy at Sophos, told eWEEK. SSL no longer provides meaningful security, since users can just ignore the warning that a site has an invalid certificate and proceed to a Website, Lyne said.

      Fahmida Y. Rashid
      Fahmida Y. Rashid

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×