DES - Data Encryption Standard

wikipedia: Data Encryption Standard 56 bit key

  • August 27, 1974
    1. (1997) 96 Days       - RSA DES Challenge
    2. (1998-02) 41 Days   - RSA DES Challenge II-1
    3. (07-1998) 56 Hours - RSA DES Challenge II-2 - Cost $250,000  - Winnings $10,000
    4. (01-1999) 22 Hours 15 Minutes - RSA DES Challenge III
      • EFF Deep Crack + distribited.net - 250,000 DES engines

Triple DES 

aka: TDES or 3DES

wikipedia: Triple DES -- Effective key strenght (112 bits) -- uses 3 - 56 bit keys - for a key length 168 bit key

  • Published 1998 ANSI X9.52 - CBCM mode - Triple-DES - Multiple encryption
  • Published 1999 FIPS PUB 46-3 

NIST considers 3-key TDES to be appropriate through 2030

AES - Advanced Encryption Standard

wikipedia: Advanced Encryption Standard 128, 192 and 256 bit keys
wikipedia: NIST AES Process

  • September 12, 1997
  • Rijndael, developed by a Swedish team, is more computationally efficient than 3DES by a wide margin and supports key lengths of 128, 192 and 256 bits.
  • The cipher was developed by two Belgian cryptographers, Joan Daemen and Vincent Rijmen, and submitted to the AES selection process under the name "Rijndael", a portmanteau of the names of the inventors.
  • 2003 - National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
    •  all key lengths are secure enough for classified information 
      • 128 key length is sufficient to protect up to the SECRET level.
      • 192 or 256 key lengths are required for TOP SECRET level.

          Note: Rijndael is Pronounced “Rhine Dahl” 

RSA Key

wikipedia: RSA

  • December 14, 1977
  • The algorithm was publicly described in 1977 by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman at MIT; the letters RSA are the initials of their surnames, listed in the same order as on the paper.
  • NIST considers a 1024 bit key effective throught 2010
  • NIST recommends a minimum key size of 2048 through 2030