1996-02-21 - Re: Internet Privacy Guaranteed ad (POTP Jr.)

Header Data

From: olbon@dynetics.com (Clay Olbon II)
To: IPG Sales <ipgsales@cyberstation.net>
Message Hash: bbcfd2fdc553d63ba9c71cacd8b43e13e06095317af120290087831d6a667210
Message ID: <v01540b01ad50e8efff81@[193.239.225.200]>
Reply To: N/A
UTC Datetime: 1996-02-21 17:20:38 UTC
Raw Date: Thu, 22 Feb 1996 01:20:38 +0800

Raw message

From: olbon@dynetics.com (Clay Olbon II)
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 1996 01:20:38 +0800
To: IPG Sales <ipgsales@cyberstation.net>
Subject: Re: Internet Privacy Guaranteed ad (POTP Jr.)
Message-ID: <v01540b01ad50e8efff81@[193.239.225.200]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 10:08 PM 2/20/96, IPG Sales wrote:

>Unlike Mr. Silvernail, we have a much simplier definition of what we mean
>by a one time pad - given a message/file of length N, where N is a finite
>practical number say less than 10 to the 1000th power, that the encrypted
>ciphertext can be any of the N to the 256th power possibile clear/plain
>text messages/files.  To prove that the IPG system does not work, all you
>have to do is to prove that is not the case - that our system, without
>artifically imposed boundary conditions will generate a subset of those
>possibilities  - that is simple and strsight forward - not
>hyperbole but action - everyone stated how simple it was to break the system,
>now everyone is back paddling aa fast as they can, like Mr. Metzger and
>some of the other big bad cyphermouths.

PROOF:

        Given that N is the length of the message in bits. The number of
possible combinations of bits is 2^N.  For any message length N > 1,
2^N < N^256.  Simple example.  Message length is 3 bits.  The maximum
number of possible combinations of these bits is 8.  This is far less than
3^256 (which is more than 10^100, i.e. it overflows the calculator on my
Mac).  Sorry guys.  Try learning some simple math before you try and sell
crypto.

        Clay

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