After breaking the image verification system used to validate the authenticity of pictures taken using Canon cameras last year, researchers from Russian encryption specialist ElcomSoft are at it again. This time they have their sights set on rival camera maker Nikon. 

After studying Nikon's Image Authentication System, ElcomSoft says it has exploited a major flaw in how the secure image signing key is handled and extracted it from a Nikon camera.

In a replay of what happened to Canon, forged images can now be made to pass validation with Nikon Image Authentication Software, effectively negating the value of Nikon's system. In a press release, ElcomSoft asserts that "all past and current Nikon cameras supporting Image Authentication are affected, including Nikon D3X, D3, D700, D300S, D300, D2Xs, D2X, D2Hs, and D200 digital SLRs."

ElcomSoft says that its research is important because the courts and many other organizations accept digitally signed photographs as valid evidence, and that a manipulated or fake image being passed off as real is of concern. Manipulated images that pass validation by Nikon Image Authentication Software can be accessed here.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at CNET News
- check out this article at The Register

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