Fortify Software has put out a guide to cryptographic algorithms that recommends to software developers which to use, which not to use and when it is appropriate to use them.
Experts in the security community have found that many commonly used cryptographic algorithms can turn out to be insecure, either through some previously unknown weakness or because of advances in the computational power of the hardware that is readily available to hackers.
Choosing the wrong algorithm could result in sub-standard security, the company said.
The guide steers developers through use of cryptographic hashes, encryption and encoding, symmetric and public keys, and pseudo-random number generators.
Details are included of those that Fortify’s Security Research Group and other security experts have deemed unsafe.
