Hallo Jan,
On Fri, 24 Nov 2000 19:40:12 -0500 GMT (25/11/2000, 08:40 +0800 GMT),
Jan Rifkinson wrote:
JR> I don't know enough to discuss the point mathematically or with any
JR> great knowledge, but I have the following observations about the one
JR> time pad if I understood what I read. In the first place the key has
JR> to be larger than the text which makes it a little impractical for
JR> some uses
I didn't read that article, but in practice, people would start
reusing the key from the beginning if the text is larger than the key.
This makes it a tad less secure, so the longer the key, the better the
security. In addition, this encryption technology is in practice used
for short spy-to-controller messages, so short keys that are longer
than the even shorter messages, are usually sufficient.
JR> & 2nd, the weak link is that that the single key has to be
JR> sent to the recipient. If it's intercepted, well.....
That's the weak point. ;-)
By the way, if anybody has ever seen the film U-571, this whole thing
was the point of stealing the enigma machine. Messages could not be
decrypted when intercepted, so the Americans needed the machine, as
the one-time pads were stored in there.
(Historically the film was nonsense, as the Americans were not even in
the war at the time this film claims to be set. Never mind, that's
Hollywood.)
JR> Otherwise I'm
JR> sure it's quite secure but I'm not brave enough to say unequivocally
JR> that the NSA or FBI (but particularly the NSA) couldn't break it down
JR> eventually one way or another.
You are right. Never say "impossible". The probably is as big as a
monkey typing this email, though. There is no way to deduct, deduce,
or otherwise mathematically calculate the code (if there is no
repetition in there as stated above).
Another safe encryption technology, which basically is a special form
of OTP, is the book encryption: You don't exchange large keys, but
just the name and edition of a book: "Tom Clancy's Power Plays, 2000
paperback". Then, when I write a message to you, it would start with
2/27 129/13 and so on. You look on page 2, and the second letter is
what I mean. Then go to page 129 and use the 13th letter. And so on.
Very simple and cannot be broken without knowing which book is meant.
However, it might be easier for someone to obtain knowledge about
"which book" without you knowing it, than to intercept a key.
--
Cheers,
Thomas.
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be
misquoted,then used against you.
Message reply created with The Bat! 1.48 Beta/8
under Chinese Windows 98 4.10 Build 1998
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