At 12:47 AM -0700 5/30/96, E. ALLEN SMITH wrote:
From: IN%"mclow@owl.csusm.edu" "Marshall Clow" 29-MAY-1996 19:18:31.60
* Why encrypt before compression? If the encryption is any good, then the encrypted data won't compress much at all. However, compression before encryption has its own problems.
What problems does compression before encryption have? It at least seems to work for PGP.
Most compression schemes put a header/index on the front of the compressed data. This makes recognizing the correct decryption very simple. Call it a limited "known plaintext" situation. -- Marshall Marshall Clow Aladdin Systems <mailto:mclow@mailhost2.csusm.edu> "We don't have to take it; never have, never will. Gonna shake it, gonna break it; let's forget it: better still" --The Who, "Tommy"