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From: shiva@pro-smof.cts.com (System Smof)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: Encrypting your data to keep it private
Message-ID: <6809@crash.cts.com>
Date: 9 Jan 91 05:56:06 GMT
Sender: root@crash.cts.com
Lines: 15

In-Reply-To: message from lear@turbo.bio.net

>Although the people in sci.crypt probably have a better handle on it
>than he did, Bamford claims that the NSA convinced IBM to shorten the
>key from 128 bits to 56.  Apparently in exchanged the NSA helped IBM
>strengthen the S-box structures before DES was released as a standard.
>Also, this was brought up in Senate Intelligence Committee hearings in
>1977.

That the crux of what I had heard (about the unreliability of the DES).

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