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A new version of the Clipperz Javascript Crypto Library (CCL JCL) is now available for download from Google Code SourceForge. The new release dramatically enhances execution speeds (the AES cipher is now at least twice as faster as before) and introduces “deferred” mechanisms for a smoother user experience.

More than a year ago, I wrote a post about the terrifying announcement of the forthcoming Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) in the United Kingdom. RIPA went into effect few days ago and it’s even worst than expected.

A long-awaited feature requested by many users it’s now available: a strong random password generator. Generating long, high-quality random passwords is not simple.

Clipperz online password manager is a cryptographic system designed and built to achieve a 128-bit security level. This could be an obscure statement and I will try to clarify it.

[Slashdot][1] says that [NIST is planning][2] to augment and revise the current Secure Hash Standard.

[Vincent Rijmen][1] is the belgian cryptographer that, together with Joan Daemen, developed the Rijndael block cipher.

At Clipperz we are huge fan of cryptography as a tool to empower users and protect freedom, therefore we are beholden to all the people who contributed to the development of this science.

Today’s mail servers, file servers and other data storage servers typically must be fully trusted since they have complete access to your data and are supposed not to reveal them without your authorization.

Few days ago a fire destroyed Sealand, the independent state joke located on an abandoned anti-aircraft deck six miles off the British coast. The silly utopia of a data haven burned with it. HavenCo, the Sealand company running the offshore hosting service, was just a very badly planned business venture, but exotic enough to get good press coverage.

UPDATE - Good news for webmail encryption: read my review of Freenigma.

Mark Langenhoven and Richard Jones have both developed simple tools to use Gmail while safeguarding the privacy of your email messages. These are not bullet-proof systems, but they provide an easy way to encrypt email messages and keep using your favorite webmail interface. Mark used a Greasemonkey script, while Richard adopted a Firefox extension.

Mark solution does not rely on any certificates or browser built-in list of authorities, but it requires to generate an RSA pair of keys. Unfortunately the provided interface to generate the public and private keys is quite basic and no information are given about the chance to use other RSA pairs of different size. To encrypt your message just add the recipient public key and click “Encrypt”.

Richard, on the other hand, developed a Firefox extension to build S/MIME support for Gmail. It requires the user to obtain an S/MIME email certificate - there are several ways to get one for free - and install it in the Firefox certificate database. If there is an entry for the recipient email address in the certificate database, then the body of the email and any attachments are automatically placed in an S/MIME attachment and encrypted with the recipient’s public key. This encrypted message is then sent to Google for delivery.

Mark and Richard cannot guarantee to keep the prying eyes of NSA out of your mailbox, but they can definitely add more privacy to your email relationships.

picture above from WebProNews.com