NORWICH, CT (27 February 1998)--How secure is data encrypted with the U.S. government-approved 56-bit Data Encryption Standard (DES)? Thanks to the efforts of thousands of computer owners, including Norwich-based ISP DownCity, LLC, the answer may be, "Not as secure as you might think."

Using the power of thousands of computers linked over the Internet, a team of computer enthusiasts known as distributed.net broke a 56-bit DES key in just 39 days, winning the DES Challenge II announced January 13, 1998 by RSA Data Security. This was less than half the 90 days it took to solve the 1997 challenge. Distributed.net, according to co-founder David McNett, "look[s] forward to future RSA-sponsored challenges that will assist in exposing the need for stronger government-backed encryption standards."

Team DownCity and the other participants in distributed.net used their computers' "idle" time--processing power left over after completing the computers' other work--to try possible combinations that would unlock a message encrypted by RSA using a 56-bit DES key. After trying 72 quadrillion of the possible keys the encrypted message was deciphered: "Many hands make light work." In addition to $5,000 in prize money, most of which went to support the work of the Free Software Foundation, the teams competed for glory. Team DownCity finished 565 in a field of 1397, using an array of computers running Linux, Windows, and OS/2.

At issue amidst the fun is the degree of security offered by government-approved encryption. U.S. policy currently allows export of only 40-bit encryption technology with some exceptions for 56-bit algorithms. Some have argued that this limitation endangers not only the security of data belonging to U.S. companies and citizens-from credit card numbers to medical information to financial reports-but also the ability of U.S.-based software companies to export competitive products. "If a team of hobbyists can crack DES in 39 days for fun," said DownCity's Robert Szarka, "imagine what a determined corporation or government can do when the stakes are higher. Americans need strong encryption, and we are delighted to have been part of an effort to demonstrate that in a tangible way."

For more information see http://www.downcity.net/news/rc5.html, http://www.distributed.net/, and http://www.rsa.com/pressbox/html/980226.html.

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Last Update:27 Feb 98

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