From: "E. ALLEN SMITH" <EALLENSMITH@ocelot.Rutgers.EDU>
Date: Sat, 25 May 1996 15:57:51 +0800
To: unicorn@schloss.li
Subject: Re: Layman's explanation for limits on escrowed encryption ...
Message-ID: <01I53K6SDN348Y4Z90@mbcl.rutgers.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


From:	IN%"unicorn@schloss.li"  "Black Unicorn" 24-MAY-1996 15:07:57.78
>On Wed, 22 May 1996, Ernest Hua wrote:

>> Could someone with some knowledge of NSA/DoS/FBI intentions please
>> explain why key length limitations are necessary for escrowed
>> encryption?

>To deal with the possibility that someone might slip through the cracks of
>the escrow process.

>Insurance.

	Hmm.... what were the normal key-length recommendations again? This
appears to imply that the NSA can break at least 64-bit, and probably 80-bit,
encryption. How does this translate into public key lengths? E.g., how many
normal bits is a 1024-bit PGP key equivalent to?
	-Allen