Steadfast Consulting

What we do

Ross — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:25:52 +0000

We’re often asked what it is that we do, what services we can offer.

Through Steadfast you can access a team of talented and experienced software engineers with a variety of skills.

These skills encompass multiple environments – Unix and Windows; C, Java and other languages; application, system and embedded programming – all acquired and honed over many years.

We have a particular interest in security, cryptography and related technology, and specialised experience in those fields. (more…)

No news is good news?

Ross — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:12:13 +0000

There has been a dearth of posts here recently. Unfortunately, we have both been busy, and bound by NDAs. About all we can say is that we have been working with some high-tech startups in Cambridge and that they have some very interesting technology!

Case Study: Short Fuze

Ross — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 10:37:19 +0000

Moviestorm, produced by Cambridge startup Short Fuze, is the GarageBand of the animation world - an innovative Java-based animation tool allowing quick and intuitive creation of 3D movies using ready-made character puppets, props and scenery. Its success revolves around a strong user community who produce and license puppets and other content in addition to Short Fuze’s in-house creations. We worked with Short Fuze in early 2007 to find a solution that allows users to create and publish content packs, while preventing unpaid access to content.

Initially we were asked to analyse some commercial DRM options, in the hope of determining conclusively whether or not they met Moviestorm’s specific needs. However, they proved more focused on software than content management, so we then worked with Short Fuze to refine their requirements and discuss a custom solution. Ultimately we produced a Java-based certificate architecture designed to combine stronger security than Java’s own architecture currently provides with maximum ease of use; we also provided Short Fuze with an interactive training seminar to assist them with integrating our software into Moviestorm, and full after-sales support.

Read more about the process and the end result in the full article in our Case Studies section.

Sometimes, wheels need to be reimplemented.

Ross — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 12:18:17 +0000

We recently completed a project for a client which saw us create a certificate-based authorisation system in Java.

We didn’t want to invent any new cryptography, but it turned out that Java does not currently provide mechanisms of a strength we considered sufficient for general purpose use. (more…)

Commission: HSM Procedures Manual

Ross — Mon, 14 May 2007 16:02:20 +0000

Here at Steadfast, we don’t just design and write software. We’re also happy to take more specialised roles in projects such as the creation of documentation.

We recognise that documents often have to cover both the technical and the human sides: in other words, not just the whats but the whys and wherefores too.

Earlier this year, we were commissioned to do something along these lines for a customer who wanted a process manual covering the hardware security modules (HSMs) they had bought but not yet installed. (more…)

Recommendations for key lengths

Ross — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 14:14:05 +0000

We were recently tasked with recommending some security mechanisms for a client. In particular, we had to recommend algorithms and key sizes for a process which requires both digital signatures and encryption.

Figuring out the time which will be required to crack a key is something of a future-prediction game, but we can have a good stab at it. (more…)

Manifesto

Ross — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:49:52 +0000

This blog - this website - is a place where we can describe our skills and experience and talk about pertinent issues in the field. In essence, it is a living advertisement for the company.

Writing about jobs we’ve done can be quite difficult, doubly so in the field of security. The need for discretion is paramount; clients often don’t want the details of their systems to be made public and back this up by NDA. Sometimes they don’t even want it to be known that we’re working with them.

We accept and respect this and ask readers to understand. We will maintain client confidentiality at all times, only revealing information if we have the client’s explicit permission to do so.

Contacting us

Ross — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 23:08:31 +0000

Steadfast Consulting are best reached by email on

If you really need to phone us, the number is 0870 879 3990 (+44 870 879 3990), but it will go to voicemail if we’re out. We’re in the UK - the timezone is UTC+0 or UTC+1. You can fax us any time on 0870 879 3991 (+44 870 879 3991).

Our registered office isn’t the most efficient way of sending things to us in the post. Please email first, we’ll give you a more direct address.