From: Christian Void <cvoid@netcom.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 93 22:06:18 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Phil Zimmerman on 'The Death of DES'
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309272220.A26747-b100000@netcom3>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


I found the following on Usenet, and was curious as to the validity of the
statements made. If anyone has any other information regarding this,
please post or mail it private. I don't know if any of it already floated
through here, but thought you might be interested in it.

---

Seen on the PRIVACY FORUM mailing list:

  -----------------------
  Date:    Wed, 8 Sep 93 13:13:12 -0400
  From:    "Alan (Gesture Man) Wexelblat" <wex@media.mit.edu>
  Subject: DES is a dead dog...
  
    From: Philip Zimmermann <prz@columbine.cgd.ucar.EDU>
    Subject: Re: DES Key Search Paper (fwd)

    Michael Weiner presented a paper at Crypto93 that describes a fast
    DES key search engine that uses a special inside-out DES chip that
    he designed.  This chip takes a single plaintext/ciphertext pair
    and quickly tries DES keys until it finds one that produces the
    given ciphertext from the given plaintext.  Weiner can get these
    chips made for $10.50 each in quantity, and can build a special
    machine with 57000 of these chips for $1 million.  This machine can
    exhaust the DES key space in 7 hours, finding a key in 3.5 hours on
    the average.  He works for Bell Northern Research in Ottawa, and
    says they have not actually built this machine, but he has the chip
    fully designed and ready for fabrication.

    This is a stunning breakthrough in the realization of practical DES
    cracking.  BTW-- note that PEM uses straight 56-bit DES.

---

Christian Void /T71 | "I don't like it, and I'm sorry I | VMResearch, Inc.
cvoid@netcom.COM    | ever had anything to do with it." | P.O. Box 170213
Tel. 1+415-807-5491 |  -Erwin Schrodinger  (1887-1961)  | SF, CA  94117
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