9 Jul
2003
9 Jul
'03
12:22 a.m.
From: "Joel Martinez"
<president(a)coherent-logic.com>
To: <tuhs(a)minnie.tuhs.org>
Subject: Re: [TUHS] OT: Patternless Encryption
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 11:35:24 -0600
Is it possible to do this with a fixed length key?
> Such a thing exists, it is called a one-time pad. Generate a
> completely random key as long as the plaintext, and then XOR each
> successive bit of the key with the corresponding bit of the plaintext.
> The result is indistinguishable from random noise; only someone with
> an identical copy of the key can decrypt it (using precisely the same
> method of course).
For various degrees of security, depending on the length of the key.
Keys are not used directly for encryption, but are used to generate
cryptographically secure pseudo-random sequences.
As a starting point, look at
< http://www.mindspring.com/~schlafly/crypto/faq.htm >
carl
--
carl lowenstein marine physical lab u.c. san diego
clowenst(a)ucsd.edu