Snowden disclosures prompt warning on widely used computer security formula

SAN FRANCISCO: In the latest fallout from Edward Snowden's intelligence disclosures, a major US computer security company warned thousands of customers on Thursday to stop using software that relies on a weak mathematical formula developed by the National Security Agency. 

RSA, the security arm of storage company EMC Corp, told current customers in an e-mail that a toolkit for developers had a default random-number generator using the weak formula, and that customers should switch to one of several other formulas in the product.