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Bruce Schneier's Insights On Cryptography And Open Source Debate

I've been reading Bruce Schneier's Book on cryptography for the last couple of days, and one of the main concepts in the text struck me as interesting. One of the points of discussion when looking at the security of a given algorithm is its exposure to scrutiny. Bruce explicitly states that no one should ever trust a proprietary algorithm. He states that with few exceptions, the only relatively secure algorithms are those that have stood the test of time while being poured over by thousands of cryptanalysts. . . .. I've been reading Bruce Schneier's Book on cryptography for the last couple of days, and one of the main concepts in the text struck me as interesting. One of the points of discussion when looking at the security of a given algorithm is its exposure to scrutiny. Bruce explicitly states that no one should ever trust a proprietary algorithm. He states that with few exceptions, the only relatively secure algorithms are those that have stood the test of time while being poured over by thousands of cryptanalysts. Similar Situations What struck me is the similarity between this mode of thought and that of the open source community on the topic of security. In that debate there is much disagreement about which is better - open or closed -, while in the crypto world it's considered common knowledge that open is better. According to the crypto paradigm, having any measure of an algorithm's security based on the fact that it's a secret is generally a bad thing. There, keys are what makes the system secure - not the algorithm being a secret. I realize there are some differences in these two models, but they are small enough, in my opinion, to say that those participating in the open/closed source debate could learn something by tapping into the body of knowledge held by this related field. The link for this article located at osviews.com is no longer available. . Bruce Schneier highlights the importance of scrutinizing cryptographic algorithms to strengthen defenses, advocating for transparency inopen-source development for trust and resilience. Open Source Algorithms, Security Scrutiny, Cryptography Insights, Community Discussion. . LinuxSecurity.com Team

Jul 20, 2004 • LinuxSecurity.com Team Cryptography