From: steve-b@access.digex.com (Steve Brinich)
Subject: Re: Off the shelf cheap DES keyseach machine (Was: Re: Corporate acceptance of the wiretap chip)
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
Lines: 17
NNTP-Posting-Host: access.digex.net

 > > :Thousands?  Tens of thousands?  Do some arithmetic, please...  Skipjack
 > > :has 2^80 possible keys.
 > >
 > > We don't yet know if all 80 bits count.
 >
 > That doesn't worry me at all; they're not going to cheat at something
 >they can get caught at.  And key size is one of the things that can be
 >verified externally.  Feed lots of random key/input pairs into the
 >chip, then see what happens to the output....

  If the device is designed to use the key that's registered with the Feds,
I don't see how you -can- feed it a different key.  If the user can change
the key to any of the 2^80 possibilities, the main reason for regarding
this proposal as unacceptable disappears.



