From: Matt Thomlinson <mattt@microsoft.com>
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 95 15:03:52 PDT
To: stewarts@ix.netcom.com
Subject: Re: 2^25 Crays a Year to Break STT
Message-ID: <9509282305.AA09854@netmail2.microsoft.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


don't you love how the media gets the story straight?

----------
From: Bill Stewart  <stewarts@ix.netcom.com>
To:  <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Subject: Re: 25 Crays a Year to Break STT
Date: Thursday, September 28, 1995 10:33AM

>   Microsoft said its Secure Transaction Technology (STT), was
>   designed to provide a much higher level of security for
>   credit card transactions on the Internet. Netscape's
>   general purpose encryption system uses a 40 or 128-bit
>   electronic "key", while STT will use 2,000-bit keys.
Sigh.  Apples and oranges, and they know it.
.....
>   Although no encryption system was totally secure, Mr Dent
>   estimated it would take "25 Cray supercomputers a year" to
>   break the STT codes.

So how much work can 25 Crays do in a year?  Crack single-DES?
Maybe RC4/64?
#---
# Bill Stewart, Freelance Information Architect, stewarts@ix.netcom.com
# Phone +1-510-247-0664 Pager/Voicemail 1-408-787-1281
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