Re: A matter of interest.

[brbarkstrom@gmail.com]

On Sunday, November 30, 2014 1:12:47 PM UTC-5, Simon Wright wrote:
> brbarkstrom writes:
> 
> > I do not believe that a new cryptographic algorithm can be trusted
> > until it has been published and attacked by competent cryptanalysts.
> > The classic text is
> >
> > Schneier, B., 1996: Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms,
> > and Source Code in C, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY
> >
> > If the algorithm hasn't been published, the usual term would be
> > "security by obscurity."  It doesn't work.
> 
> To be fair to Austin, he has published his work-in-progress.

Fair enough.  However, I think he should use the available Ada versions
of standard encryption algorithms.  Those will save his time and worries
about security by the user community.  While I have a PhD in astronomy and 
had several years of advanced math as an undergraduate, I do not have the 
mathematical qualifications to build a new encryption algorithm.  Folks
who do that kind of work need to have a very deep understanding of number
theory and related subjects.  'Nuff said.

Bruce B.