Where did Trust_ go?

[mskala at ansuz.sooke.bc.ca]

On Wed, 7 Apr 1999, RavenZ wrote:
[quoting Phil Zimmermann]
> Anyone with a sophisticated understanding of cryptography would not make
> the keys bigger this way.

I think the above was an irresponsible statement for Phil to make; if long
keys are bad, there should be definite engineering reasons not to use
them - not just fear of appearing "unsophisticated".  "Any sophisticated
cryptographer would agree with me" is the kind of non-argument we hear in
sci.crypt flame wars; I'm saddened to hear Phil stooping to that level.  
Fortunately, in the part of the letter that I omitted, he did give some
genuine support for his position.

Personally, I don't think 2048 bits is excessive, although it's probably
unnecessary.  I do think 3072 bits is excessive.  I think 8192 bits is
just stupid.

Matthew Skala  Ansuz BBS  (250) 472-3169  http://www.islandnet.com/~mskala/

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