[542] in WWW Security List Archive
40 bit encryption: Missing the point
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (robert@cogsci.ed.ac.uk)
Mon Mar 27 14:36:36 1995
From: robert@cogsci.ed.ac.uk
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 95 16:00:35 BST
To: wcs@anchor.ho.att.com
Cc: www-security@ns2.rutgers.edu
In-Reply-To: <9503270708.AA25241@anchor.ho.att.com> (wcs@anchor.ho.att.com)
Errors-To: owner-www-security@ns2.rutgers.edu
I suspect I am missing the point somewhere.
I am aware that there is tremendous concern about people being able to pick
up credit card numbers from traffic on the Net. I am not sure I understand
why there is so MUCH concern over it.
wcs@anchor.ho.att.com expresses worries that people with criminal intent
who could fork out $1M would be able buy enough computing power to break
40-bit encryption schemes and get credit card numbers for $100.
Now, if crooks are prepared to pay for credit card numbers (just the
numbers, nothing else), surely they could get them for much less than $100
by paying supermarket staff, waiters, garage attendants or travel agents to
pass them on.
If they want to rely on technology, rather than human foibles, they could
bug the phone lines (or even offices) of places that make a lot of sales
by phone.
These kinds of low-tech approaches could trivially collect credit card
numbers at the sort of rate the hypothesised Mafia supercomputer could
decrypt them from the Net. So what's new? Why the excitement? Why should
we worry that there is now going to be a high-tech, capital- and
skill-intensive way of doing something that can be done by low-key bribery
or blackmail or petty dishonesty anyway?
Yours in confusion....
Robert.
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