From: "david d `zoo' zuhn" <zoo@armadillo.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996 19:13:47 +0800
To: jirib@cs.monash.edu.au
Subject: Re: Ozzie Apes Jim Clark, Fix Is In to Cave and Cry
In-Reply-To: <199601190944.UAA17814@sweeney.cs.monash.edu.au>
Message-ID: <199601191106.FAA15561@monad.armadillo.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


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//  I suppose it'll be safe for a while yet (esp. for session keys), but
//  has anyone multiplied that graphics-workstation-40bit price by 2^24?
//  It's only 10 billion! (billion=10^9) A lot of money, sure, but given
//  that it's not very expensive to go to 128 bits or more, why ???

Probably to satisfy the spirit of the proposed new export regulations that
require a max of 64 bits.  They would have to get US Gov't approval for
this workfactor-reduction export as well, so there could be additional
pressure applied to keep it to 64 bits.  What if the workfactor-reduction
bits got encrypted with a different key that the Gov't didn't have (via a
patch binary for example)?  Then the work is only 64 bits and not 128.

Given the size of the NSA budgets, the equipment to break 64 bits is almost
certainly available.  They'd probably much rather break 2^24 40 bit key
than 1 64 bit key, but they'll do what they have to in order to make sure
they can read the keys.

//  Now how about the percentage of *foreign* people who trust the US govt.?
//  Given that it has said that it'll spy commercially... (if memory
//  serves).

Memory serves me oppositely -- denial that it has done so in the past and
saying that they would not do so in the future.  This came a couple of
months ago during trade negotiations with the Japanese government.

- -- 
- -  david d `zoo' zuhn  -| armadillo zoo software -- St. Paul, Minnesota
- --  zoo@armadillo.com --|   unix generalist (and occasional specialist)
- ------------------------+   http://www.armadillo.com/ for more information
  pgp key upon request  +----------------------------------------------------

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[ At home now, so it's signed...]