Crack in DES Security Wall

It was big news earlier this year when the Electronic Frontier Foundation – with the help of Deep Crack, its US$200,000 supercomputer – cracked the 56-bit Data Encryption Standard (DES) in 22 hours and 15 minutes, thereby winning a $10,000 prize from RSA Data Security Inc. Perhaps it shouldn’t have been such big news. Alex Fowler, director of Public Affairs for EFF, says informed sources in his circle report that DES has been cracked in just 15 minutes by the FBI and other intelligence agencies. The FBI naturally isn’t talking.

Should CIOs worry about the frailty of DES? John Gilmore, EFF co-founder and leader of the code-cracking project, thinks they should. “Most companies aren’t aware of how easy it is to break the 56-bit standard,” Gilmore says. “We’ve proven that a nonprofit group can do it for $200,000.”

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Featured Articles

Cybersecurity in 2024: Priorities and challenges for Canadian organizations 

By Derek Manky As predictions for 2024 point to the continued expansion...

Survey shows generative AI is a top priority for Canadian corporate leaders.

Leaders are devoting significant budget to generative AI for 2024 Canadian corporate...

Related Tech News

Tech Jobs

Our experienced team of journalists and bloggers bring you engaging in-depth interviews, videos and content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives.

Tech Companies Hiring Right Now