On 11/9/06, Eric Baum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
It is true that much modern encryption is based on simple algorithms. However, some crypto-experts would advise more primitive approaches. RSA is not known to be hard, even if P!=NP, someone may find a number-theoretic trick tomorrow that factors. (Or maybe they already have it, and choose not to publish). If you use a mess machine like a modern version of enigma, that is much less likely to get broken, even though you may not have the theoretical results.
DES is essentially a big messy bit-scrambler; like Enigma, but with bits instead of letters. The relative security of the two approaches is debated by cryptologists. On one hand, RSA could be broken by a computational trick (or a quantum computer). On the other hand, DES is so messy that it's very hard to be sure there isn't a foothold for an attack, or even a deliberate backdoor, in it. ----- This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?list_id=303
