Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!sgi!rpw3@rigden.wpd.sgi.com From: rpw3@rigden.wpd.sgi.com (Rob Warnock) Newsgroups: comp.sys.sgi Subject: Re: SecretMail Message-ID: <89988@sgi.sgi.com> Date: 9 Mar 91 03:22:51 GMT References: <9103061407.AA17329@dolphin.omni.co> <1991Mar9.014207.16178@odin.corp.sgi.com> Sender: guest@sgi.sgi.com Reply-To: rpw3@sgi.com (Rob Warnock) Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mountain View, CA Lines: 24 In article <1991Mar9.014207.16178@odin.corp.sgi.com> jeffg@sgi.com (Jeff C. Glover) writes: +--------------- | Wouldn't the "compress" magic number (first longword of the file) give | a crypt-breaker a fairly good headstart on the rest of the contents? +--------------- Yes, indeed. But it's a constant, so remove it after compressing (with "dd"?) and put it back at the other end after transmission and before decompressing. The fact that what follows the header is a permutation of the "strings" for the single characters you most often use might possibly give some aid to a perpetrator, but much less help than the fixed header. But in any case, don't use "crypt". -Rob ----- Rob Warnock, MS-1L/515 rpw3@sgi.com rpw3@pei.com Silicon Graphics, Inc. (415)335-1673 Protocol Engines, Inc. 2011 N. Shoreline Blvd. Mountain View, CA 94039-7311