DES - Data Encryption Standard is the current standard that is used in most industries, among others the credit card companies and banks. We have people harping about homeland security and what not even though they are probably the ones doing the most damage. So what does DES have to do with what I am talking about. Well most of us use P2P software and seldom read the fine print that goes with it. Do you guys even know what you are signing up for? Nope because you don't care as long as you get your little freebie goodies. On January 16, 1999 RSA did a convention where they asked a group of computer guys to crack the DES code. It took them 100,000 computers working simultaneously to crack a bit of the DES code in 22 hrs. In 1999 the computers had maybe 1/10 th the computation power we have today. So when you download that newest P2P software you might just be the next computer in that long chain of people out there trying to crack the DES, the tools to encode with DES are out there but the decrypters are known to a few. Its a 56 bit key that literally holds the key to the puzzle, now all someone needs to do is write that little algorithm into your P2P software and you are now harbouring what potentially could bring down security as we know it.

I am taking a class on security and everyday I realize that 99% of the people in this world are morons. Its kind of scary thinking about all those P2P programs out there and what they could be doing behind your back. I am glad I don't think highly of them and refuse to have anything to do with them. So before the next war monger comes crying about security look inside your own little pc because you might just be the idiot that screws up security as we know it.

http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip46-2.htm nice article if anyone cares.

 

AES > 3DES > DES

 

DES is still used in most places that matter. They are getting new standards, but they are not making it available for the critics which I think is bad because it means it won't be as good as the old DES.

 

ahh, ya, i dont really know a whole lot. all of my knowledge regarding this stuff has only been used with VPNs

 

Its all cool, I think that Security class is gonna teach me a lot.

 

that's cool. i've been interested in this kind of security for a while now....but just too lazy to learn h: maybe one of these days

 

My first assignment is to decrypt a message. Its been encypted in random and I have to use letter distribution tables to try and make sense of it.

 

I chose 3DES for my L2TP/IPSec VPN connection to work

I need to take one of those classes...

 

Wow, that certainly put things into perspective for me :thinking:

 

very cool. i think i could really enjoy a class like that....eventho it would probably be tough....i'ved always liked a good challenge tho