From: Frank Willoughby <frankw@in.net>
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 14:07:01 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: DES_ono
Message-ID: <9602180502.AA03842@su1.in.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Two brief questions about DES, if I may.

I have heard of a couple of rumours that DES is considered to be fairly weak.  
Specifically, the rumors mentioned that there were some questions about the 
design of the S-boxes and the possibility that there was a trap door which 
would permit the NSA or other gov't agency to quickly obtain the cleartext.

Another rumour was that the French & Israeli intelligence agencies downgraded
the classification of DES to one of the lowest strengths of encryption
algorithms.

I have been wondering about these issues off & on for a while & have tried to 
do some research on them, but have come up with nothing which would amount to 
more than hearsay.  It's tough to tell if the rumours stem from urban legends 
or are based on fact.

If it isn't too much trouble, I'd appreciate an expert opinion of the two 
rumours mentioned above.

Assuming the rumours of the weakness of DES are true, which symmetric
encryption algorithms would you recommend which are substantially more
secure than DES (and which are obtainable from Internet or commercial
sources)?  (It doesn't haver to be exportable).

Thanks in advance for your help.

Best Regards,


Frank
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