[14661] in Cypherpunks
Re: to The Atlantic
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Perry E. Metzger)
Fri Jun 3 08:22:03 1994
To: lefty@apple.com (Lefty)
Cc: cypherpunks@toad.com
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 02 Jun 1994 19:20:59 -0800."
<9406030313.AA18027@internal.apple.com>
Reply-To: perry@imsi.com
Date: Fri, 03 Jun 1994 08:17:11 -0400
From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@imsi.com>
Lefty says:
> >the DES algorithm it approved for commercial usage is breakable by the NSA
>
> Is this a fact or a supposition?
Its a fact that it can currently break DES, yes. I'll admit that I
have no direct proof, but I would imagine that since DES crackers can
be built for only $1mil or so, they almost certainly have them or
things even more sophisticated. After all, DES is widely used, and
their job is to break encrypted traffic.
I would not agree that there is a "back door" in DES, however. None is
needed anyway.
Perry
