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From: bobh@pedsgd.UUCP (Bob Halloran)
Newsgroups: net.crypt,net.legal
Subject: Re: RSA cryptographic algorithm patented?
Message-ID: <217@pedsgd.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 25-Jul-85 08:17:16 EDT
Article-I.D.: pedsgd.217
Posted: Thu Jul 25 08:17:16 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 28-Jul-85 04:49:10 EDT
References: <9028@ucbvax.ARPA> <3154@cornell.UUCP> <405@petrus.UUCP> <1982@ukma.UUCP>
Reply-To: bobh@pedsgd.UUCP (Bob Halloran)
Organization: Perkin-Elmer, Tinton Falls, NJ
Lines: 25
Xref: linus net.crypt:388 net.legal:1518

In article <1982@ukma.UUCP> sean@ukma.UUCP (Sean Casey) writes:
>In article <405@petrus.UUCP> karn@petrus.UUCP (Phil R. Karn) writes:
>>2. IBM is not widely known to cheerfully give away things for free.  In
>>fact, this is so out of character for them that one almost wonders if they
>>have an ulterior motive to promote widespread usage of DES (I think you can
>>guess what it might be.)...
>
>You bet.  The NSA really boondoggled IBM about DES and it's implementation.
>Could it be that once upon a time it was so good that the NSA was forced to
>cripple it?
>

It is widely believed that the original IBM proposal involved a key size of
more than 128 bits, and that the No Such Agency promptly classified the 
research and imposed the existing size in order to facilitate their domestic
monitoring of traffic.

						Bob Halloran
						Sr MTS, Perkin-Elmer DSG
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