The Doghouse: Lexar LockTight
Do you think we should tell these people that SHA-1 is not an encryption algorithm?
Developed by Lexar, the new security solution is based on a 160-bit encryption technology and uses SHA-1 (Secure Hash Algorithm), a standard approved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The 160-bit encryption technology is among the most effective and widely accepted security solutions available.
This seems not to be a typo. They explain themselves in more detail here:
Lexar has provided us with the following explanation as to how data is protected on the LockTight cards: (we understand that the encryption is carried out on the communications layer between the card and camera/computer rather than the data itself).
“Lexar employs a unique strategy to protect data on LockTight cards. LockTight cards are always ‘locked.’ In other words no computer or camera can read or write data from/to a LockTight card until a critical authorization process takes place between the LockTight card and the host computer or host camera. This authorization process is where the 160-bit HMAC SHAH-1 encryption algorithm is employed.”
meme • October 3, 2005 8:51 AM
So what exactly is your beef with this? Just their terminology? They say up front that none of the data is encrypted, it’s just a matter of authenticating a user to access the unencrypted data, which is obviously why they use a hash algorithm. So they called it an encryption algorithm… who cares?