Re: [Fwd: Cylink can export 128-bit DH?]

> Dear Wei Dai
> I understand that ITAR prohibits the export of strong crypto
> and that is why I was puzzled that Ms Glenda Barnes, the Director
> of Marketing in Cylink, said that Cylink could export the same crypto
> (i.e. DES) that was used in the U.S. to local banks here in Malaysia.
> She also claimed that Cylink could also export a 128-bit DH key size.
> (is it strong enough in the first place? )
> 
> I'm confused : Either she's pulling wool over the attendees' eyes or
> Cylink has got some pretty good connections.
> 
> She could not have been mistaken as she was replying to a specific 
> question about the ITAR and the export issue of strong crypto.
> 
> Can anyone help?
> 
> 

There are provisions for exporting DES for banking purposes. 
Generally it is a hardware card that "can't" be reused outside 
of the banking transfer machine.  I don't know the details
of how such licenses are applied for, but I have a friend you 
used to work in that area.

On 128-bit DH - No-where near big enough.

Dan
------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan Oelke                                  Alcatel Network Systems
droelke@aud.alcatel.com                             Richardson, TX

Daniel R. Oelke wrote:
> There are provisions for exporting DES for banking purposes.
> Generally it is a hardware card that "can't" be reused outside
> of the banking transfer machine. 

So far, I've seen DES software from a couple of U.S. companies. The question
is "Is it the U.S. domestic DES or "export flavored" DES? As for the hardware,
would'nt it be inconsistant if the DES supplied is the Domestic DES?

I know DES as a subject here is one big YAWN, but for guys like us in the
Asia, it's not. Why? 'Cause the US crypto companies here in Asia keep telling 
us about how good and wonderful and secure DES is, and that it is THE standard
used by the American Banking Association. 
 
> On 128-bit DH - No-where near big enough.I would appreciate if someone can email me details about the strenght of DH;
whether it's been broken, URLs..ect...

Thanks.

_______________________________________________________________
" You can fool some people all the time......"

From: Derek Atkins <warlord@MIT.EDU>
Date: Thu, 2 May 1996 10:04:18 +0800
To: peng-chiew low <pclow@pc.jaring.my>
Subject: Re: [Fwd: Cylink can export 128-bit DH?]
In-Reply-To: <31879DD8.3479@pc.jaring.my>
Message-ID: <199605011713.NAA17782@toxicwaste.media.mit.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
It is legal to export full DES, in binary form, to banks outside the
US. In other words, a company in the US can create a financial
package that uses DES, even for encryption, and sell it to a bank
outside the US. THe caveat is that DES can only be used to encrypt
the financial transactions, not arbitrary data.
I hope this helps.
-derek