FRANKFURT: European researchers have found that the popular PGP and S/MIME e-mail encryption standards are vulnerable to being hacked and they urge users to disable and uninstall them immediately. In a blog post, the EFF recommended that PGP users uninstall or disable their PGP e-mail plug-ins while the research community evaluates the seriousness of the flaws reported by the European research team. “Securely encrypted email remains an important and suitable means of increasing information security,” it said in a statement, adding that the flaws which have been discovered can be remedied through patches and proper use. To exploit the weakness, a hacker would need to have access to an email server or the mailbox of a recipient. It advised users to disable the use of active content, such as HTML code and outside links, and to secure their email servers against external access.

Source: The Star May 15, 2018 05:37 UTC