Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!cornell!rochester!PT.CS.CMU.EDU!NL.CS.CMU.EDU!mlm
From: mlm@NL.CS.CMU.EDU (Michael Mauldin)
Newsgroups: sci.crypt
Subject: Re: publication status of DES algorithm / NSA
Message-ID: <934@PT.CS.CMU.EDU>
Date: 23 Feb 88 06:44:36 GMT
Sender: netnews@PT.CS.CMU.EDU
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
Lines: 24
Keywords: DES NSA publication intelligence


Note that the DES algorithm has been published for years. See at
"Cryptography and Data Security", Dorothy Denning, Addison-Wesley,
1982.  I'm sure there's also an NBS document describing it for sale by
the US Government.  It's hard to believe that posting C source on
UseNet is subtantially different from that.  You'd have a hard time
defining the difference between an algorithm described by mathematical
pseudo-code and C source that just also happens to run on a computer.  

Of course the NSA reads this newsgroup.  But don't expect them to react
to it, much.  A big part of the business of keeping secrets is not
letting other people know what you know.  The more they react, the more
we'll know about what they worry about.  So they'll stay quietly in the
background.  Just to prove it, here's the source for a DES cracker:

	ZZZZ 0345 NOTICE
	490 LINES REMOVED TO CLASSIFIED FILE DRAWER NBS-D-5712
	CONTACT ARMY INFORMATION OFFICE, FT MEAD, MARYLAND.

See?	;-)

Michael L. Mauldin (Fuzzy)		Department of Computer Science
ARPA: Michael.Mauldin@NL.CS.CMU.EDU	Carnegie-Mellon University
Phone: (412) 268-3065			Pittsburgh, PA  15213-3890