On Wed, Apr 13, 2005 at 06:01:36PM -0400, Karl Magdsick wrote:
>  > Doesn't p9sk1 still use DES? DES was nice, but has several
> > recognized ways to speed up cryptanalysis of the algorithm. 3DES
> > is an alternative, but with combinations such as Rijndael-256 in
> > CBC mode (or indeed, using a strong stream cipher -- Helix looks
> > neat, but it's still too new, I think), I really don't see why
> > we should stick with these things.
> 
> FYI, sufficiently useful quadratic approximations (XSL attack) of AES
> exist to reduce all key lengths of AES to equivalent of no more than
> 128-bit strength.  These attacks will likely be improved in the
> future.  The same class of attacks reduces Serpent to no more than
> equivalent 192-bit key strength.  The key-dependent substitution
> tables used in TwoFish appear to make it immune to this sort of
> attack.  If you're going to pick an AES finalist block cipher, TwoFish
> now appears to be the strongest of the AES finalists (especially the
> legally unencumbered ciphers), despite Rijndael being chosen for AES.
> 
> -Karl

Aha, that's quite interesting to know. Do you have any
information about attacks on Serpent (which also appears to be
quite strong, at least from what its webpage would have you
believe)?

--Devon