RECENT BLOG NEWS

Hi!  We are currently putting together a build of wolfSSL for the Android platform, specifically for users that require a small footprint embedded ssl library.  The development effort is will result in wolfSSL operating as an SSL provider for Java on the Android platform.  The natural byproduct of this project is that we’ll have a Java based SSL provider available for other mobile and embedded platforms.  If you are interested in running wolfSSL in Java as an SSL provider, then contact us at info@yassl.com, and we will provide you with a beta copy.

yaSSL has now been partnered with ARM for 18 months!  Why is yaSSL partnered with ARM?  Simply stated, because so many of our users and customers are running on the ARM chipset.  Users choose wolfSSL on ARM because it is fast, lightweight, and easily embedded to secure connected application software.  To meet the needs of our customers, we have ported the wolfSSL embedded ssl library to several ARM based environments, including Android, ThreadX, QNX, Ubuntu, IAR, MontaVista and OpenWRT.  If you need wolfSSL on another ARM based operating environment that we don’t currently support, then contact us at info@yassl.com.

yaSSL, the leading C++ based ssl library, is now available for download. This release of yaSSL contains bug fixes, new testing certs, and a security patch for a potential heap overflow on forged application data processing. Vulnerability discovered by Matthieu Bonetti from VUPEN Security (http://www.vupen.com).

We recently announced a beta version of secure Memcache is available to the community.  Users are excited about having SSL available in memcache, but show concern about the performance cost of enabling security.  With this feedback in mind, we benchmarked secure memcache performance against standard memcache.  See the graph below for comparison of secure memcache to standard memcache by measure of TPS.  The first bar is regular memcache.  The rest of the bars show secure memcache running with different cipher options.  We’ve also included the performance of “direct to database,” or running without memcache at all, as a baseline for comparison. 
 
We have several additional optimizations in the works that will bring the performance of secure memcache to within 5-10% of standard memcache for most environments, and can also provide network, operating system and hardware specific optimizations for specific users. 
 
You will see from the graph that running Memcache with SSL enabled is 4x faster than running direct to database.  The cost of running securely varies between about 25% and 40%, depending on cipher.  There is some cost to running secure memcache, but it is not unbearable.  Email us at facts@wolfssl.com if you want more details on the benchmark.
 
Who should use secure Memcache?  Generally speaking, anyone concerned about the security of their memcache data. 
 
More specifically: 
 
1.       Users with regulatory compliance requirements. 
2.       SaaS companies hosting sensitive customer and user data who cannot risk a breach that could damage their reputation
3.       Users running in the cloud.
4.       Users concerned with masking memcache data securely within their firewall.
 
 
Contact us at info@yassl.com if you are interested in receiving the beta or for more information. 

We have ported wolfSSL to the ThreadX operating environment!   Our decision to invest in the porting process is based on strong customer demand for a small footprint, high performance, royalty free SSL library on ThreadX.  ThreadX and wolfSSL have a lot in common.  Both companies operate under similar business models, target similar usage profiles, and work with the same chip and board vendors.  With regard to usage profile, both ThreadX and wolfSSL operate well in resource constrained environments and are popular with developers of today’s new generation of connected devices.  We have also seen that wolfSSL is popular for device developers implementing code signing.
 
If you want to test wolfSSL for ThreadX, just download our latest source and build it in your environment.  Let us know if you face any issues and we’ll be happy to help.  Just email us at info@yassl.com!

Hi!
 
As of this writing, wolfSSL, which is our small embedded SSL library, supports all of the most commonly used OpenSSL functions.  As time goes on, we are incrementally improving our OpenSSL compatibility. 
 
Our process for improvement is driven by two forces. 
 
Firstly, we respond to customer requirements.  Our customers migrate from OpenSSL to wolfSSL for a variety of reasons.  Some migrate to get support for a particular RTOS or embedded environment not supported by OpenSSL.  Others need to reduce the overall size of their application by using a smaller library.  There are also some that migrate because they are seeking commercial licensing and professional support. 
 
Secondly, we test the compatibility layer by building wolfSSL with other open source projects that currently use OpenSSL.  We simply see what breaks, and then we add the missing OpenSSL functions to fix it.  You can see a couple of these efforts available on our download page in the form of experimental versions of Lighttpd and Stunnel.  Contact us if you would like help compiling wolfSSL with Lighttpd or stunnel.  We’ll be happy to help!

Did you know that wolfSSL is integrated into the LuCI project, which is a web interface for embedded devices?  LuCI is an interface tool for wireless routers.  See here for project details:  http://luci.subsignal.org/

The wolfSSL embedded ssl library and Gnu TLS are the first SSL libraries to support the new TLS 1.2 standard.  The TLS specification can be found here:  http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc5246.txt.  The first browser to support TLS 1.2 is Opera.  It appears that TLS 1.2 support is also available in Windows 7, though not by default.  As of this writing support from other browsers  appears to be in the works. 

Why use TLS 1.2?  In a nutshell, enhanced security.  TLS 1.2 is less susceptible to MITM attacks, has stronger default security, and adds some additional flexibility for developers.

Are you using or evaluating wolfSSL’s TLS 1.2 support?  Let us have your feedback!  We would also love to know what extensions to the specification that you think we should support.

Hi!  We have embedded wolfSSL into Memcache and are now making it available to beta testers. 
 
There are no obligations for beta testers, so if you want to just review our changes to the source, that is fine.  The first beta will not include client libraries, and we currently don’t know which ones should be supported, so your feedback here is critical.  Let us know which Memcache clients to support.  Your vote counts!  We’ll work with beta testers to provide the client library they need.  Our ideal beta tester has a test rig where they can assess the performance of a wolfSSL secured Memcache versus a regular Memcache.  If community interest in the beta is strong, and feedback is positive, then we’ll submit a branch/patch of Memcache with wolfSSL to the main source tree.  Contact us at info@yassl.com to receive the beta. 

See the excellent blog post by Katie Serignese here:  http://www.sdtimes.com/blog/post/2010/03/04/The-state-of-software-security.aspx.

Get the report from Veracode here:  https://www.veracode.com/sites/default/files/Resources/Reports/state-of-software-security-volume-2-executive-summary-report.pdf.  Registration is not required to download the report.  The detailed report is an excellent document.