IP: NEW VIRUSES TARGET STRONGLY ENCRYPTED FILES

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

I am not sure I get quite how this works  but ... djf  (from EDUPAGE)
Two cryptographers have published a paper describing a new generation of 
computer viruses that seek out the long keys used by "strong" encryption 
programs and attach themselves to documents protected by those keys. The 
randomness of the bits in encryption keys is what makes them stand out, as 
most information on a computer's hard drive is stored in an orderly fashion. 
The cryptographers recommend that network managers store keys on smart cards 
rather than on a computer's hard drive, and securely delete them every time 
they're used. For added protection, encryption programs could spread a key 
among different memory locations, or all the data on a computer's hard drive 
could be encrypted, so that the entire contents appear to be random. (Data 
Communications 15 Mar 99)