DES export regulations. And what to do about it!

[John F Haugh II]

In article <1548 at inews.intel.com> bhoughto at hopi.intel.com (Blair P. Houghton) writes:
>In article <18874 at rpp386.cactus.org> jfh at rpp386.cactus.org (John F Haugh II) writes:
>>not secret - there is nothing to prevent Saddam Hussein from reading
>>the appropriate Federal Register sections or FIPS PUB 46.
>
>True, but then there's nothing to keep him from reading
>Nobel and Einstein, so let's just sell him giant, ballistic
>guns and nuclear warheads...

The amount of information required to go from Einstein to
a working nuclear device is non-trivial.  The amount of
effort required to go from FIPS PUB 46 to a working DES
machine is trivial.  I have a copy of FIPS PUB 46 sitting
somewheres in this room.

>...i.e., there's something to be said for prohibiting the
>export of sensitive technologies, regardless of the availability
>of related scientific information.
>
>				--Blair
>				  "Knowledge is not implementation."

In the case of DES it is.  The whole world of cryptography
requires that cryptosystems be open to examination.  DES
is published so that everyone may stare at it and uncover
any holes they might find.  So, while I need to know how to
create the appropriate neutron density to get a bomb to go
"BOOM" instead of "bzzt", with DES I only need to read the
PUBs and start typing.
-- 
John F. Haugh II                             UUCP: ...!cs.utexas.edu!rpp386!jfh
Ma Bell: (512) 832-8832                           Domain: jfh at rpp386.cactus.org
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