At 8:45 PM 8/30/95, Russell Nelson wrote:
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 18:17:02 -0700
Can't answer all of your questions, but I'll answer the ones I can, which will save time for someone else to answer the rest of them.
Apart from thwarting traffic analysis attacks, how does the security of a Mixmaster Type II remailer packet compare to that of a PGP-chained Type I message?
Well, on the one hand, PGP uses IDEA, which is arguably better than triple-DES, but PGP also only uses the key length(s) of choice, which is to say that if you use the minimum length, you have very little security. Also, Mixmaster packets remain the same length from hop to hop, so they are harder to track.
I am not sure this is the consensus opinion. Three key triple DES uses 168 bits of key, whereas IDEA only (only?!?) uses 128. DES is also much better studied and understood. IDEA is still a young algorithm (though close to the heart of every cypherpunk). The rest of what you said looks good. Too bad I did not see it before I typed my own answer ;) ---------------------------------------------------------- Lance Cottrell loki@obscura.com PGP 2.6 key available by finger or server. Mixmaster, the next generation remailer, is now available! http://obscura.com/~loki/Welcome.html or FTP to obscura.com "Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra. Suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night the ice weasels come." --Nietzsche ----------------------------------------------------------