DigiNotar files for bankruptcy

Much-maligned Dutch certificate authority DigiNotar, which was involved in a recent data breach that resulted in the issuing of countless fake certificates for popular sites, has filed for voluntary bankruptcy.

Parent company Vasco said in a lengthy statement that the action was filed under Article 4 of the Dutch Bankruptcy Act in the Haarlem District Court, and that the company will now be liquidated.

T Kendall Hunt, Vasco's chairman and chief executive, was at pains to point out that the incident, which saw hundreds of fake certificates issued by hackers, did not affect Vasco's core authentication technology.

"In addition, we plan to co-operate with the trustee and the judge to the fullest extent reasonably practicable to bring the affairs of DigiNotar to an appropriate conclusion for its employees and customers," he added.

"We also plan to co-operate with the Dutch government in its investigation of the person or persons responsible for the attack on DigiNotar."

Kendall Hunt explained that, while Vasco is leaving the certificate authority space for the time being, the company may be able to integrate the PKI/identity verification technology acquired from DigiNotar into its authentication platform to make it stronger.

Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluley said in a blog post that few will be sorry to see the back of DigiNotar, especially after it emerged that the company had known about the breach weeks before coming clean.

"But it does serve as a chilling reminder of just how fatal a hack can be for an organisation, especially if the way your corporation decides to respond to it is woefully insufficient," he added.