On 3/25/1999 12:02 PM, Juergen Rensen enlightened me with the following:
>I was wondering if there is something like a "best" cipher to use, ie.
>which one is the fastest, which one the most secure, which one the best
>compromise, etc.
>
>I checked the mail archive and couldn't find anything on that topic. If
>anyone knows of any books or FAQs where I can find some comparative
>information, then I would be grateful if you could let me know.
My favorite book (and a bible for us wee dabblers) is Bruce Schneier's
Applied Cryptography. In checking out his web page at
http://www.counterpane.com, I noticed he has French, German, and Polish
editions. I bought my copy thru Amazon.com, but Bruce is offering copies
at 15% off.
To quote from his book, "My favorite algorithm is IDEA. Its 128-bit key,
combined with its resistance to any public means of cryptanalysis, gives
me a warm fuzzy feeling..."
My personal favorite is CAST: its free (for us commercial lackeys), uses
a 128-bit key, and the relevent code can be easily separated from the
OpenSSL library (particularly important to those of us burdened with
export restrictions).
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