#RSA Encryption for Amy
11 messages in this thread
I just read about a software company planning to release a very
sophisticated form of encryption program based on the RSA public key algorithm.
With a list price of $199, I wonder how many curious people will be buying it.
I can see little A500's sitting there in the basements of U.S. embassies, as
coded messages are de-crypted nad encrypted <grin>.
The same company will be selling a encryption program modelled on the old
WW II enigma encryption machine for a much smaller price.
How far we've come from having MaxiComm as the only commercial program
available. Just think what the future holds…
-RSL-
I have visions of Embassy security officers all over the world telling their
ambassadors they can buy all the Amiga 500s they want, but can't use any of
them. Welllll…… you might get a 500 tightened up enough to be used in a
screen room for under $10K if you know the right engineer types. On the other
hand, maybe the business sector could use that type program….. I wonder what
an encrypted order for a Big Mac and Fries would do to the competition <grin>.
Bill, K3OZM
Bill,
If you think it's easy to keep track of simple passwords for BBS' and
locked DB and word processors, can you imagine RSA encrypted programs use prime
numbers that are 100 digits long. Try to memorize a few of those!
-RSL-
Roy,
You keep saying "RSA"…don't you mean "DES" encryption that's used by
the "DSA".
Don
Don,
Gee, I hope not. DES is the NSA sanctioned one, and has been proven to be
less than excellent. In fact, the suspicion is that the NSA has the means to
decrypt it, and would rather everyone used DES. The real 'public key' systems
are much better, and of course the NSA doesn't like that one bit. 🙂
-larry
Larry,
Of course, the other problem with DES is that it can't legally be sold
outside of North America…so the program could only be sold in the US and
Canada.
I recently read an article on encryption (forget which magazine) and it
didn't mention any problems with DES other than I believe it only met the
category B security level since it can in fact be broken, but it takes
significant effort to do so.
Don
Don,
The point about not being able to be sold outside the US is one I hadn't
thought of (though it can now be sold in specific countries, Canada being one
example). It surely would decrease the potential market.
The 'public key' method is definitely superior though.
-larry
Don,
RSA encryption falls under the same restriction. It can not be sold
outside of the U.S. of A.
It is an intriguing algorithm. I remember trying to code it using Atari
Basic (for my Atari 800) a LONG time ago. I never got very far, but I decided
if I could do it, it would take a few days to encrypt a single sentence!
-RSL-
Don,
No, I don't mean DES, as you correctly stated it is THE encryption method
approved by the DSA. RSA is another type of encryption technique (I believe
the initials stand for the three mathematicians that have patented the
algorithm). It has the feature of a "private" and "public" key, which not only
encodes it to specific people without knowing the de-coding key themselves, but
you can encrypt it with your "private" key, which proves you sent it, because
it de-codes using your public key. It hinges on the assumption that it would
be VERY difficult to compute two 100 digit prime numbers from their products.
RSA is a very powerful technique that has not yet been proved to be
"breakable". Some more paranoid people believe that the DSA give their
approval to DES, because owners of Cray supercomputers (such as themselves)
have a chance to de-code DES messages. I don't know if this is true.
I wish the guys selling the program (LuCypher II) had a less statispheric
price expectations. I would love to play around with something like that, but
at $199 its way out of my price range for curiousity pieces!
-RSL-
P.S. I hope my "run on" sentences haven't confused my meaning!
If you're interested in encryption programs other than RSA, I have one called
Lucifer, which was ported to the Amiga. I don't remember where I got it from
(Plink, possibly), so if it's not already on CIS, and people are interested, I
guess I can upload it. I also believe I have sources to a DES program
(although not ported to the Amiga) which I grabbed off Usenet.
– Steve –
Steve,
Sure, feel free to upload Lucifer, I'd love to play with it a while.
Interesting that the RSA program is called LuCypher II, I wonder if the
programmer is the same guy? I would guess not, it's just a catchy name.
-RSL-