tcmay: # The problem with symmetrical ciphers is one of *scaling*. # # Since a key must be exchanged with each other person, the total number # of keys growns rapidly as the community of participants increases. At Russell Brand has observed that many people only send PGP mail to people with whom they have personally exchanged keys -- that even the "web of trust" idea is not used as much as the "personal key exchange" idea. In this case, a single symmetric key exchange transaction between two friends is is no more cumbersome than the PGP "i'll sign you mine if you'll sign me yours". I have thought seriously about a revival of symmetric key exchange, with the look and feel of a PGP key signing session, but without the transitive effect and without the legal hassles. <strick>