From: Jeremey Barrett <jeremey@forequest.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 03:51:05 +0800
To: The Deviant <deviant@pooh-corner.com>
Subject: Re: A Snake-Oil FAQ
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.3.94.960721055512.264A-100000@switch.sp.org>
Message-ID: <Pine.BSI.3.93.960721102200.7735A-100000@descartes.forequest.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Agreed... but there should be mention of stuff like "Here's our new
cryptosystem, try and crack it. If you do, we'll give you the software
free," or "here's a big block of ciphertext we encrypted with our
proprietary algorithm which we won't describe, try and crack it, but
it is unbreakable, however if you do crack it you win a free trip
to visit us."

Distinguishing what sounds to be a real contest and what sounds like a 
marketing gimmick would be good.

On Sun, 21 Jul 1996, The Deviant wrote:

> > 
> > Be wary of marketing gimmicks related to "if you can crack our
> > software" contests.  
> > 
> 
> Even the best cryptographers and security professionals have done this.
> RSA did it with their Public Key system, which took 20+ years to break.
> Throughout history, many security mechanisms, even the best ones,
> including Cyphers, Locks, Firewalls, etc. have been known to go as far as
> to offer prizes (some extremely high, upwards of a million dollars, some
> as low as RSA's famous $100 prize)
> 
> I think that this one really is just a bit too broad.
> 
>  --Deviant
> 

- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Jeremey Barrett
Senior Software Engineer			jeremey@forequest.com 
The ForeQuest Company       			http://www.forequest.com/

   "less is more."
		-- Mies van de Rohe.

   Ken Thompson has an automobile which he helped design.  Unlike most
   automobiles, it has neither speedometer, nor gas gage, nor any of the
   numerous idiot lights which plague the modern driver.  Rather, if the
   driver makes any mistake, a giant "?" lights up in the center of the
   dashboard.  "The experienced driver", he says, "will usually know
   what's wrong."

		-- 'fortune` output

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