About Lesson
Case Studies of Cryptographic Failures
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The Sony PlayStation 3 Hack (2010)
A failure in implementing proper random number generation allowed attackers to recover the private key used to sign firmware, compromising the console’s security.
Lesson: Securely implement cryptographic algorithms and avoid reusing random values. -
Yahoo Data Breach (2013)
Weak hashing algorithms (MD5) used to protect user passwords were easily cracked, leading to one of the largest data breaches in history.
Lesson: Use strong hashing algorithms, such as SHA-256 or bcrypt, for password storage. -
ROCA Vulnerability (2017)
A flaw in a widely used RSA key generation library led to the creation of weak keys, exposing millions of devices to attack.
Lesson: Regularly audit and update cryptographic libraries.