Netting snoopers

A DRDO laboratory has developed what may be the most secure encryption software. Besides helping the Defence organisation keep hackers an...

A DRDO laboratory has developed what may be the most secure encryption software. Besides helping the Defence organisation keep hackers and spies out of its communication links with its 53 laboratories, the software is also a boon for traders on the Net. PALLAVA BAGLA reports

The Kargil conflict has underlined the need for establishing secure and efficient communication networks. A defence laboratory has now pitched in and offered effective solutions for secure networking. The sophisticated firewall and encryption software developed by the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics CAIR, a Ministry of Defence cyber think-tank in Bangalore and a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation DRDO, can be applied as well by companies doing electronic commerce trade on the Net.

More importantly, only a very low level of encryption is possible on all Indian computers as the existing limits of encryption are today set by the United States National Security Agency US-NSA. Ithas banned export of all software that can have a facility to encrypt over 56 key bits of information.

This level of encryption is just not enough, says Vidyasagar, who adds that 8220;unfortunately not many people realise this8221;. With e-commerce becoming the most popular buzzword, many would burn their hands if security issues were not addressed properly, feels Vidyasagar.

In a recent letter to N. Vital, Chief Vigilance Commissioner CVC, Vidyasagar had issued an alert against the purchase of US-sourced security software, highlighting that 8220;no encryption software products can be exported from the US if they are too strong to be broken by the US-NSA8221;. He says one should be particularly careful when giving out very private information like credit card numbers and banking details on open lines. His institute, the CAIR, has now been given the mandate by the CVC to develop an indigenous encryption software needed to protect the large inter-banking network that is being put in place in India.

CAIR has alsodeveloped software to integrate secure firewalls so that networks and servers are immune from hackers and snoopers.

Scientists at the CAIR have already successfully developed a 2,048-bit encryption software that they plan to integrate into the DRDO Network. This would enable DRDO to have secure communication links between all its 53 laboratories.

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Scientists at the CAIR have also successfully integrated the 2,048-bit encryption software into their software, code-named SECNET for SECure NETworking. As the encryption is carried out at the packet level, snoopers just can8217;t be decode the data that is being transmitted on the network.

Even if the US-NSA tries to decode this data, it would take them a minimum of 9 billion years of computer time to decipher it, says a CAIR scientist, making it probably one of the most secure encryption software. The CAIR has also undertaken a project to develop an Internet-based virtual private network VPN that will employ 2,048-bit encryption.

While it is easy to writethe encryption software, the key additional requirement is 8220;interoperability8221; with the rest of the world. Fortunately, the CAIR software caters to this vital requirement. This should also be a boon for the local industry targeting the estimated 5.8-billion annual e-commerce market in India.