5 ms·
Where is it used and what is under threat now?
by hkai 8y ago
Where is it used and what is under threat now?
- bradleyjg 8y agoI believe it is pretty uncommon, mostly because the inventor patented it.
- cryptonector 8y agoIn the world of cryptography, patents are the kiss of death. If you patent an algorithm and do not provide royalty free, non-exclusive, transferable, permanent grants, then no one (or very very few people) will use that algorithm. Sometimes an inventor can make a little bit of money from a crypto patent, but to do it you need to get an organization like the U.S. DoD to pay for it, and that's not easy. It's a lot easier to use one's cryptographic innovations to burnish one's reputation and leverage that into very high consulting rates, say, or founding a startup.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- loeg 8y ago[Edit: OCB in general] is almost entirely unused due to the patents around it. Instead, people ended up using GMAC (e.g., AES-GCM mode) for the most part. (Another good AEAD alternative today is Chacha20+Poly1305, standardized in IETF RFC 8439 (née RFC 7539).)
- tptacek 8y agoIt is also virtually entirely unused because it was superseded by OCB3.
- loeg 8y agoAh, sorry for the confusion. I was referring to the entire group of OCB modes, not just OCB2. Edited my comment to reflect that.
- yuhong 8y agoThe patents are almost expired by now though.
- loeg 8y ago> The patents are almost expired by now though. No they aren't? The two recent patents are from 2011 and 2012 (filed 2007 and 2011) -- which by my IANAL read -- means they don't expire until 2027 and 2031. And even if they were nearly expired, it's just not significant or responsive to my comment. They have been under patent for most of their lifetime, they're still under patent; hence they have seen little use when viable alternatives exist.