Jim Lawrence
accessd at shaw.ca
Mon Nov 14 00:17:40 CST 2005
Arthur; that is quite true. The only thing that makes me think that the 'Blowfish' encryption algorithm has not been cracked yet is that the 'brag' has not be posted yet. Considering that the concept is open-source and totally viewable, it stands as an open challenge to anyone in the world and has remained so since 1993. When the DES encryption scheme was cracked the event spread around the world in days though its official demise had long been predicted. In today's world it is almost impossible to keep secrets... Officials spend most of their time putting a correct spin to an event rather than hiding it. Jim -----Original Message----- From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Arthur Fuller Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2005 7:48 PM To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving' Subject: Re: [AccessD] Cryptlib for encryption/decrypting/signing Personally, I would never venture to say that an encryption system has never been cracked, unless I worked for the NSA and/or the Mossad. And even then I would be reluctant. Bringing to mind a central theme of Neal Stephenson's Crytonomicon: given that you have a crack to the Nazi encryption scheme, if you suddenly prevent U-boats from sinking troop-and-transport ships, then they will know you have cracked the system -- therefore you must allow some ships to be sunk; and therefore, aside from the guilt factor, the salient question becomes -- how many ships can you save before the Nazis realize you're on to their scheme? A. -----Original Message----- From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Jim Lawrence Sent: November 13, 2005 2:31 PM To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving' Subject: Re: [AccessD] Cryptlib for encryption/decrypting/signing Hi Gustav: This is very interesting. Have you looked at Blowfish the open-source encryption scheme? It does not have an export block on it like some versions of PGP (or a suspected American security back-door like AES and TwoFish) and has never been cracked even though everyone knows how it works, unlike DES (http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Crypto/Crypto_misc/DESCracker/): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowfish_%28cipher%29 Jim -- AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com