[Cryptography] cryptography Digest, Vol 16, Issue 11

[ianG]

On 15/08/2014 03:35 am, Jerry Leichter wrote:
> On Aug 14, 2014, at 6:56 PM, Benjamin Kreuter <brk7bx at virginia.edu> wrote:
>>> (There are vaguer hints that they have some similar design
>>> secrets for stream ciphers:  No public stream cipher has survived
>>> public attack, but while we don't know how they work internally, NSA
>>> has continue to field stream ciphers for its own   use, so it
>>> apparently thinks it can produce secure ones.)

[snip]

>  But ciphers built as stream ciphers tend to have a simpler structure and give you much faster operation with less hardware.  The NSA seems to believe there's a meaningful distinction as they continue to produce both block and stream ciphers intended for different application domains.

I think I mentioned before, but maybe the PR office needs a reminder.
If anyone in the NSA wishes to put to rest arguments about whether they
support the protection of civil infrastructure, they could simply
release Suite A.

It would be nice to feel that they are the good guys, again.

iang