Elcomsoft trying to patent faster GPU-based password cracker

[Jon Callas]

On Oct 24, 2007, at 1:21 PM, Steven M. Bellovin wrote:

> I hope they don't get the patent.  The idea of using a GPU for
> cryptographic calculations isn't new; see, for example, "Remotely  
> Keyed
> Cryptographics: Secure Remote Display Access Using (Mostly) Untrusted
> Hardware" (http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~angelos/Papers/2005/ 
> rkey_icics.pdf)
> Debra L. Cook, Ricardo Baratto, and Angelos D. Keromytis. In
> Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Information and
> Communications Security (ICICS), pp. 363 - 375. December 2005,  
> Beijing,
> China. An older version is available as Columbia University Computer
> Science Department Technical Report CUCS-050-04
> (http://mice.cs.columbia.edu/getTechreport.php? 
> techreportID=110&format=pdf&),
> December 2004.

I agree completely. If the PTO does their job, they won't get it.  
This is like claiming that once we know that making daiquiris in a  
blender is possible, it's patentable to improve that by making pina  
coladas. If you're skilled in the art, you know that this is pretty  
obvious. Crypto extended to cryptanalysis is less of a stretch than  
strawberries extended to coconut and pineapple.

Unfortunately, the PTO hands out patents for things like using a  
laser pointer as a cat toy.

	Jon

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