A nice summary of all the issues pertaining to AES and how it has replaced DES as the encryption standard. "Nothing moves fast in the world of encryption, which may help explain why the U.S. is only now about to leave 56-bit DES behind for new encryption schemes.. . .
A nice summary of all the issues pertaining to AES and how it has replaced DES as the encryption standard. "Nothing moves fast in the world of encryption, which may help explain why the U.S. is only now about to leave 56-bit DES behind for new encryption schemes.

It's been a long time coming, almost 20 years, in fact. The Data Encryption Standard has long outlived its usefulness. But the new Advanced Encryption Standard sets out key lengths of 128, 192, and 256 bits. How much stronger is AES? The National Institutes of Standards and Technology says a machine that could crack DES in just one second would need 149 trillion years to do the same to a 128-bit AES key.

Even stronger stuff may be on the way. Advances in quantum computing could render algorithmic methods of encryption like AES obsolete. But quantum cryptography uses an LED so precise it emits just one photon of light. It could be used to secure not just Web transactions and electronic documents, but entire optical networks. Encryption's not only moving faster-its future is looking brighter."

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