From: tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 94 01:04:37 PDT
To: jgostin@eternal.pha.pa.us
Subject: Re: TC May's policy change proposal
In-Reply-To: <940713182417q8qjgostin@eternal.pha.pa.us>
Message-ID: <199407140804.BAA13576@netcom3.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



> > This list is not a place to ask 500-600 people "What's so bad about
> > Clipper?" or "Can't the NSA break any cipher with enough effort?"
>      Do you mean to imply that "Everything" and "Yes" aren't good enough
> answers from 500-600 people? :-)
> 
>                                    --Jeff

No, because the correct answer to the second question is not "Yes,"
but is clearly "No."

I refer readers to the sci.crypt FAQ, the RSA FAQ, or books such as
"Applied Cryptography." (Hint for those who don't want to: one time
pads (Vernam ciphers) and things like RSA with 1000-digit moduli.)

("Enough effort" can be interpreted in a circular way to ensure the
answer is 'Yes," as a truism. This is meaningless, if "enough effort"
is impossible to achieve, as with OTPs, or is beyond the energy in the
universe. If "enough effort" is interpreted to mean theft or rubber
hose crytanalysis, all bets are off. But most people who ask the
question I cited don't mean these loopholes.)


--Tim


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