Basic HTML version of Foils prepared May 19 99

Foil 21 Export Restrictions on Cryptography

From Remarks on Internet and Java Security Basic Information Track Computational Science Course CPS616 -- Spring Semester 1999. by Geoffrey Fox, Mehmet Sen


The US government has established restrictions on the "quality" of encryption software that can be exported
This actually translates into general restrictions on security quality as vendors do not want two types of software -- one domestic and one foreign!
Note one can break "low quality" encryption e.g. RSA155 (best technology using 512 binary bits) would take 10,000 PC's a few months to break
  • However the bad guys might to do this to break into Fort Knox but wouldn't bother for your credit card number!
Sun ingeniously released latest software using cryptography produced entirely outside the USA and so again the government is attempting something that is bound to fail!



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