Root Causes Podcast

We explore an error in public certificates that we call the off-by-one-second problem. We explain this problem and its broader implications.

Happy Canada Day! In celebration, we discuss why Canada is disproportionately good at cryptography.

The FBI recently recovered the Colonial pipeline ransom money, which had been paid in Bitcoin. In this episode we talk about how this might have occurred.

In our technology discussions we frequently run into confusion between electronic document signing and digital document signing. This episode explains.

In 2019 the Kazakh government attempted to force its citizens to trust its private root. A recent research paper examines this attack.

The Colonial pipeline has captured the news cycles in recent weeks. Our hosts unpack what it known about this attack and how digital identity & PKI fit in.

We explain proof of work and proof of stake as blockchain consensus algorithms, the trouble with proof of work, and the future of consensus algorithms.

Of all aspects of public SSL certificates, few are as controversial as the OU field. Our hosts explain why this field is an industry flashpoint.

We explore out-of-band phone calling as a MFA method, including, what attacks it defends against successfully, and what attacks can circumvent it.

Our hosts discuss the key qualities of credential form factors, how they are distinct from their infrastructure, and the minimum capabilities of PKI.

In this episode we explain sideloading, its potential dangers, and the underlying motivators behind the sideloading debate.

In this episode our hosts explain consensus, proof of work, and the Byzantine Generals problem. Listen to the podcast to find out more.

A new paper describes how a purpose-built quantum computer could break RSA encryption in fewer qbits than commonly are thought necessary.

The CEO of an encrypted data devices and services provider has been indicted on RICO charges related to drug trafficking and money laundering.

Our hosts discuss the reasons why on-premises services might present greater risk than providing the same capabilities in the cloud.

Research of public revocation information examines revocation behavior from public CAs. Listen for the main takeaways and "revocation transparency."

We explore the relationship between Relying Parties and Certificate Subscribers and the downstream impact of needless certificate incidents and rules.

A recently published paper claims to have destroyed the RSA algorithm, but many people are skeptical.