Scene of the Cybercrime: Computer Forensics Handbook

428 Chapter 7 • Understanding Cybercrime Prevention

Q: Is it a good idea for an organization to buy encryption software that uses

“secret” algorithms?

A: No. Most security experts advise that only well-known, trusted, and tested

algorithms be used.Although a vendor may claim that its product is more

secure because the algorithms it uses are proprietary or secret, in reality pro-

prietary algorithms are considered to be generally unsafe. Most of the best

algorithms are public ones; knowing the algorithm doesn’t help a hacker

crack the encryption if the cipher is a strong one. If a vendor doesn’t want to

make its algorithm public, that might mean the vendor ...