Over a Million Websites Are Still Using SHA-1
Faulty hash algorithm persists, despite efforts by experts to raise awareness.
A study by the security firm Netcraft has determined that over a million websites are still using SSL certificates based on the SHA-1 hashing algorithm, which is known to be insecure. Several high-profile companies are among the list of organizations that still use the discredited SHA-1.
Security experts have known for a few years that SHA-1 is vulnerable to attack, with the only question being how much does it cost to attack it? According to a report in the Register, in 2012, it was estimated that a successful attack on SHA-1 would cost $173,000 in compute time by 2017. Netcraft reports the attack can now be accomplished with $75-$120K in Amazon EC2 compute resources.
Although such as rate would rule out high school script kiddies and small-time meth addicts, a $75,000 investment to hack a corporate network is well within the budget of many criminal and government espionage organizations.
All networks are strongly advised to upgrade to certificates based on SHA-2 and SHA-3-family algorithms.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.