Released on: August 6, 2008, 8:00 am

Press Release Author: Comodo Group

Industry: Computers

Press Release Summary: Dr Colin Walter\'s speech will focus on recovering secret keys
from weak channel traces

Press Release Body: Jersey City, NJ, August 06, 2008 - Comodo, a global leader in
Identity and Trust Assurance Management solutions, is pleased to announce that Dr
Colin Walter, Head of Cryptography at Comodo\'s Digital Trust Research Lab, will be
presenting at the upcoming Workshop on Cryptographic Hardware & Embedded Systems
2008 in Washington, DC from August 10 to 13 (http://www.chesworkshop.org). Dr
Walter\'s speech, Recovering Secret Keys from Weak Side Channel Traces of Differing
Lengths, focuses on the combined effect of standard software countermeasures in
order to assess the minimum requirements for hardware countermeasures which lead to
cryptographic key security.

In the field of cryptography, side channel attacks are the exploitation of
weaknesses in physical devices used to deploy cryptographic systems allowing the
attacker to decrypt sensitive data, such as private keys. For example, minute
variations in timing, power, and electro-magnetic radiation can be used to
reconstruct the secret keys used by a smartcard or cryptographic token when
performing authentication.

In his paper, Dr. Walter studies combined effect of several software countermeasures
in order to assess the minimum requirements for the hardware. This leads to security
for the secret key.

Dr. Colin Walter is the Head of Cryptography at Comodo CA and Chairman of
Peripherals Working Group - Trusted Computing Group and a member of the Steering
Committee for Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems. He has achieved
international recognition in the design of hardware and algorithms for the
implementation of RSA cryptography. A senior member of the IEEE, Colin is most
well-known to the international community for his long term research into Montgomery
modular multiplication. A selection of his papers are available on the Comodo
website at http://www.comodo.com/research/crypto/publications.html.

Full conference details and an itinerary can be found http://www.chesworkshop.org.
About Comodo

The Comodo companies provide the infrastructure that is essential in enabling
e-merchants, other Internet-connected companies, software companies, and individual
consumers to interact and conduct business via the Internet safely and securely. The
Comodo companies offer PKI SSL, Code Signing, Content Verification and E-Mail
Certificates; award winning PC security software; vulnerability scanning services
for PCI Compliance; secure e-mail and fax services.

Continual innovation, a core competence in PKI, and a commitment to reversing the
growth of Internet-crime distinguish the Comodo companies as vital players in the
Internet\'s ongoing development. Comodo secures and authenticates online transactions
and communications for over 200,000 business customers and 3,000,000 users of our
desktop security products.

For additional information on Comodo - Creating Trust OnlineT visit
http://www.comodo.com
Dr. Colin Walter - Profile

Dr. Walter has a formidable international reputation in the design of hardware and
algorithms for the implementation of RSA cryptography. He is on the program
committee of several international conferences (e.g. CHES and ARITH) and has spoken
as keynote speaker on many occasions.

Dr. Walter obtained his doctorate in algebraic number theory from Cambridge
University and he is a senior member of the IEEE. Colin joined Comodo from UMIST and
is responsible for the on-going research and development work of the cryptography
team which designs, tests and verifies all the crypto-systems underlying the many
and varied security products developed by Comodo. Colin is most well-known to the
international community for his invention of the first ever purely locally connected
systolic array for modular multiplication. This enables servers to perform the
calculations for very large numbers of SSL key exchanges at once. Recent research
has led to the MIST algorithm, a key ingredient in the secure implementation of
electronic purses on smartcards.

For more information, reporters and analysts may contact:
Judy Shapiro
Comodo
+1 (201) 963-9471
Email: judy.shapiro@comodo.com

Web Site: http://www.comodo.com

Contact Details: +1 888 266 6361
media-relations@comodo.com