Coinciding with Netscape Communications Corp releasing the Mozilla source code for its Navigator web browser (see related story), a group of Australian organizations have formed a new operation to develop strong cryptography for the product. The Mozilla Crypto Group made up of Australian software developers and researchers is aiming to develop and integrate full strength cryptography for Netscape, bypassing US laws which prevent US companies from exporting strong cryptographic software. Netscape has been forced to strip the cryptography features from the Mozilla code. The Mozilla Crypto Group believes it is essential to have strong cryptography measures in the browser to ensure it can be used to conduct secure internet transactions, especially important as electronic commerce grows. The group will come up with a free cross-system browser with full strength cryptography courtesy of SSLeay, a cryptography library. SSLeay includes full strength Secure Sockets Layer SSLv2 and SSLv3, used to transport security such as encryption behind the http protocol present in browsers. The Mozilla Group is made up of 10 researchers and developers, including Eric Young and Tim Hudson who spearheaded SSLeay. The group is yet to establish precise development details, and says it will know more when it has had chance to study the newly released code.
