German researchers have developed a random number generator that uses a computer memory element, a flip-flop, to create an extra layer of randomness. The flip-flop switches randomly between two states of either one or zero. Just before the switch, the flip-flop is in a “metastable state” where its behavior cannot be predicted. After the metastable [...]

University of California, Berkeley researchers have created energy-scavenging nanofibers that can be woven into clothing and textiles. The nano-sized generators have piezoelectric properties, which enables them to use mechanical stress, stretches, and twists to create electricity. “This technology could eventually lead to wearable smart clothes that can power handheld electronics through ordinary body movements,” says [...]

The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has completed round one of its open competition to create a new Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA). The cryptographic community narrowed the first round’s 64 submissions down to 14 semifinalists. Fifty-one of the 64 algorithms submitted in 2008 met the competition’s minimum criteria, and it took the [...]

By placing a new type of hybrid file on Web sites that let users upload their own images, researchers can circumvent security systems and take over Web surfers’ accounts

… was released to manufacturing on April 21, 2008, and Microsoft plans to make it available to the general public on April 29, 2008 via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center. A feature set overview has been posted by Microsoft and details new features available separately as standalone updates to Windows XP, as well [...]