NSA Nixes NT.4 Crypto Certification

[Charles Behney <charlesaugust@theriver.com>]

http://www.nwfusion.com/news/0111ntcrypt.html

NT 4.0 flunks cryptography test
                  Another service pack fix and
                  interoperability woes for users are the
                  results. 

                  By Ellen Messmer
                  Network World, 01/11/99

                  Washington, D.C.

                  Last summer, Microsoft hoped to see NT
                  4.0 breeze through government tests of
                  encryption features such as Data Encryption
                  Standard and digital signatures. But things
                  didn't go exactly as planned. 

                  Products must pass the Federal Information
                  Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-1
                  certification test before they can be sold to
                  the U.S. and Canadian governments. 

                  Not only did the Redmond, Wash., giant fail
                  the cryptography tests, but Microsoft
                  officials now acknowledge that the lab
                  scrutiny exposed shortcomings in NT's
                  cryptographic processing that will force
                  Microsoft to redesign the operating system. 
[....]