4 ms·

Even if it comes from the NSA it doesn't necessarily mean it's backdoored. Speck is a good algorithm for performance constrained devices. It was removed from th

Even if it comes from the NSA it doesn't necessarily mean it's backdoored. Speck is a good algorithm for performance constrained devices. It was removed from the kernel since it couldn't be included into Android systems due to political reasons, and the authors of the module wrote an implementation of an alternative algorithm for this use-case.

craftyguy 8y ago
> Even if it comes from the NSA it doesn't necessarily mean it's backdoored I suppose you could say the same thing about someone with a history of robbing banks.. just because they walked into your bank doesn't mean they are about to rob it (but it's highly likely they are).
- tptacek 8y ago
  If someone with a history of robbing banks arrived at my bank with a ski mask and a bulging duffle bag, I would say "go away, bank robber". The analogy to cryptography would be the NSA proposing yet another PKRNG, of any kind. On the other hand, if someone with a history of robbing banks called me on the phone and asked me what the interest rates on my checking accounts were, I would tell them, because they can't rob my bank over the phone. The analogy here would be to the NSA suggesting a streamlined, simplified ARX block cipher transform, a backdoor in which would imply some fundamentally unknown property of block ciphers that would presumably jeopardize a whole variety of other academic ciphers, and would not accomplish the NOBUS property that NSA requires of backdoors in things they encourage USG assets to use themselves.
- betterunix2 8y ago
  The NSA actually has a history of solid block cipher and hash function proposals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Encryption_Standard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Encryption_Standard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skipjack_(cipher) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skipjack_(cipher)

craftyguy 8y ago

> Even if it comes from the NSA it doesn't necessarily mean it's backdoored I suppose you could say the same thing about someone with a history of robbing banks.. just because they walked into your bank doesn't mean they are about to rob it (but it's highly likely they are).

tptacek 8y ago
If someone with a history of robbing banks arrived at my bank with a ski mask and a bulging duffle bag, I would say "go away, bank robber". The analogy to cryptography would be the NSA proposing yet another PKRNG, of any kind. On the other hand, if someone with a history of robbing banks called me on the phone and asked me what the interest rates on my checking accounts were, I would tell them, because they can't rob my bank over the phone. The analogy here would be to the NSA suggesting a streamlined, simplified ARX block cipher transform, a backdoor in which would imply some fundamentally unknown property of block ciphers that would presumably jeopardize a whole variety of other academic ciphers, and would not accomplish the NOBUS property that NSA requires of backdoors in things they encourage USG assets to use themselves.
betterunix2 8y ago
The NSA actually has a history of solid block cipher and hash function proposals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Encryption_Standard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Encryption_Standard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skipjack_(cipher) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skipjack_(cipher)