From: rishab@dxm.ernet.in
Date: Mon, 23 May 94 04:14:17 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Skipjack backdoor? NOT!
Message-ID: <gate.BRksmc1w165w@dxm.ernet.in>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


grendel@netaxs.com (Michael Handler):
>        In short, is it possible that the NSA built in a backdoor to
> Skipjack so they can stay ahead of the game like they used to in the
> pre-Clipper days?
> 
>         Also, at the risk of starting a "computing power increases vs.
> difficulty of factoring vs. potential cost" flamewar: Is it possible that
> the NSA can brute force Skipjack? _Applied Crypto_ says that Skipjack only
> has an 80-bit key. How easily could the NSA break an 80-bit key?
> 

If they were that smart, they'd simply have made Skipjack weak enough to
easily break, and not cause all the outcry by suggesting escrows.

See my earlier post, "Why dumb criminals will NOT use Clipper".

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Rishab Aiyer Ghosh                                     rishab@dxm.ernet.in
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