Cracking DES | O'Reilly Media

Cracking DES Secrets of Encryption Research, Wiretap Politics & Chip Design

By Electronic Frontier Foundation
July 1998
Pages: 264
ISBN 10: 1-56592-520-3 | ISBN 13: 9781565925205
(Average of 0 Customer Reviews)

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Book description

The Data Encryption Standard withstood the test of time for twenty years. Cracking DES: Secrets of Encryption Research, Wiretap Politics & Chip Design shows exactly how it was brought down. Every cryptographer, security designer, and student of cryptography policy should read this book to understand how the world changed as it fell.
Full Description

Sometimes you have to do good engineering to straighten out twisted politics. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization that was founded to ensure that the principles embodied in the Constitution and Bill of Rights are protected as new communications technologies emerge, and O"Reilly, the premier publisher of computer and computer-related books, team up to produce Cracking DES: Secrets of Encryption Research, Wiretap Politics & Chip Design. By doing this they have exploded the government-supported myth that the Data Encryption Standard (DES) has real security. National Security Agency and FBI officials say our civil liberties must be curtailed because the government can't crack the security of DES to wiretap bad guys. But somehow a tiny nonprofit has designed and built a $200,000 machine that cracks DES in a week. Who's lying, and why? For the first time, the book reveals full technical details on how researchers and data-recovery engineers can build a working DES Cracker. It includes design specifications and board schematics, as well as full source code for the custom chip, a chip simulator, and the software that drives the system. The U.S. government makes it illegal to publish these details on the Web, but they're printed here in a form that's easy to read and understand, legal to publish, and convenient for scanning into your computer. The Data Encryption Standard withstood the test of time for twenty years. This book shows exactly how it was brought down. Every cryptographer, security designer, and student of cryptography policy should read this book to understand how the world changed as it fell.

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Book details

First Edition: July 1998
ISBN: 1-56592-520-3
Pages: 264
Average Customer Reviews: (Based on 0 Reviews)

Featured customer reviews

Cracking DES Review, November 13 1998
Submitted by Dan [Respond | View]

The EFF is on the front line fighting for our
constitutional rights against a government which has
become increasingly scornful of our right to privacy.
If the EFF is able to raise revenue from the book sale
to fund their ongoing campaign, I certainly have no
problem with that!

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Media reviews

"Beautifully milks many sacred cows of their crypto policy. EFF exposes more of the emperor's new clothes, reaching new levels of truth." --Peter Neumann, Moderator of the Risks Forum

"A very impressive piece of work. This book will change the history of cryptography." --Steve Bellovin, Co-author of Firewalls and Internet Security

"If the government was honest, the crypto debate would be over by now. EFF's research conclusively refutes their propaganda." --Bruce Schneier, President of Counterpane Systems

"Readers with computer engineering backgrounds and access to chip fabrication facilities would be able to replicate the complete machine if desired. But even nontechnical readers will be fascinated by this account of disarray, disinformation, and wishful thinking relating to the U.S. government's official encryption standard." --Tom Mace, editor at Amazon.com, August 1998

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