Could a simple mistake be how the NSA was able to crack so much encryption?

Most encryption software does the high-tech equivalent of reusing passwords, and that could be how the US national security agency decrypted communications

The NSA could have gained a significant amount of its access to the world's encrypted communications thanks to the high-tech version of reusing passwords, according to a report from two US academics.

Computer scientists J Alex Halderman and Nadia Heninger argue that a common mistake made with a regularly used encryption protocol leaves much encrypted traffic open to eavesdropping from a well-resourced and determined attacker such as the US national security agency.