Image authentication doesn’t quite mean what it used to.  It was just back in November 2010 that Russian forensic software firm, ElcomSoft, cracked Canon’s image authentication software.  Now, it’s done the same to Nikon’s $500 Image Authentication Software.

Nikon states that its Image Authentication Software allows users to “Verify JPEG, TIFF and NEF (RAW) data taken using a compatible Nikon digital SLR. This secure software checks if an image has been processed or edited after taken.”

The authenticity of a photograph is of the utmost importance in court cases and other commercial and industrial applications.  The discovery of vulnerabilities in Nikon’s software adds yet another hurdle to a previously proven method of image authentication.

ElcomSoft claims that it has notified Nikon of this vulnerability; however, ElcomSoft noted that “Nikon has provided no response nor expressed any interest in the existence of the issue.”

Note that Canon Europe posted a request of users of its software to contact the company to discuss the issue.

More details on this development in Elcomsoft’s statement below. [Read more…]