David> It should be noted, however, that cracking RC5 encryption is
David> not the only RSA challenge. There is also another effort afoot
David> to crack DES encryption. These are separate endeavors, and
David> should not be confused. RSA is running several contests to
David> prove that the government's restriction on cryptography is
David> dangerous.
All good. You might even want to mention that because DES encryptions
are faster than RC5 encryptions, it will -- on average -- take less
horsepower to crack a (56-bit) DES key than a 56-bit RC5 key. Might
also be worth noting that 56-bit RC5 is currently the smallest-key RC5
contest still on. Just phrase that better than I did :-)
David> connection. As with the effort to break the RC5 algorithm, the
Not trying to break the algorithm, trying to find a particular key, by
brute force. (Big difference.) Otherwise, this paragraph is good.
David> The person whose computer finds the key will receive $4,000 of
David> the $10,000 prize.
Might be better to say "will be able to decide what's done with the
$4,000." While someone _can_ keep it, I suspect that there are many
folks who, because of using their employers'/universities' equipment
or whatever, will instead offer the bucks to a "worthwhile" cause, as
was done with the prize money for the 48-bit RC5 crack.
Other than that, I say it's good!
-- Matt Curtin Chief Scientist Megasoft Online cmcurtin@research.megasoft.com http://www.research.megasoft.com/people/cmcurtin/ I speak only for myself Death to small keys. Crack DES NOW! http://www.frii.com/~rcv/deschall.htm