-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- I am working on a project to demonstrate the insecurities in a specific cryptosystem. I am working with the author to show him the insecurities of his product. (I believe them to be many.) [There are a number of problems so far that will doom it... The name is derivative of a trademarked product. Initial disassembly shows there are no common crypto algorithms being used. The algorithm is secret. There is no key management to speak of. It only works on text files. And so on... Why am I still working on this? Because the author has created some good products and I do not want to see him be ripped to shreds when he releases this.] It is also a good excuse to do research on a couple of topics. Here is the problem... I am looking for texts on the breaking of cyphers. (I want to show him WHY the cypher is insecure and not just say "<scottish accent>It's crap!</Scottish accent>".) I have done a couple of searches and have come up fairly dry. The Cyphernomicon has a couple of paragraphs, but nothing on techniques or pointers to other references. RSA's FAQ has little to nothing as well. A web search turned up little useful. Most of the other references I have found have been for current cyphers, but next to nothing about breaking them. I have been recommended "The Codebreakers" by Kahn. (I will be picking that up as soon as I can find a copy.) I have "Applied Cryptography". (It is not oriented towards the breaking of cyphers, but it has some good remarks on the weaknesses of those listed.) Are there others? I would prefer electronic references, but hardcopy text is useful as well. Most of what I have found in the crypto field for books has been remarkably bad (with a few notable exceptions). (It is hard to respect a book when the code is written in BASIC...) In this case, brute force might work, but I am looking for something a bit more elegant. I am getting more details on the code today. It should be interesting. Any pointers to references are appreciated. Thanks in advance! -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQEVAwUBMTXwTOQCP3v30CeZAQGmWgf+LyJFcbTmE1hviLLLGJp+usFYOdEt2H4X 0/8PzHoOOy6MW4hc/om2npwFiDhSG3vPvmF3UMHX/BHvNChQ53+rvHDsynxTh+Wo F/t9qkXxKMNS41AAHMmdTgNYaO7h2Osjk6f514xX9ac0ZzSSbQmWkrwuYzopO0W/ lytSxjh3Vu6IfhWIClf/CTrotIgeUp/zhdfLlV69Nu1ZVnZWrkNh1j+8+H4mg5mv wPmq9UkA5AnIS37yJ3ywm8Z/FNHNxL8A8oA9OWJH9z/e5knQpkgsVQfWDpT3dMF1 +AwoJc6cKr91U3KRmayi2SuNmctRaacoCUIQJ1Se412m8KGzUnhaLw== =SiB0 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --- Alan Olsen -- alano@teleport.com -- Contract Web Design & Instruction `finger -l alano@teleport.com` for PGP 2.6.2 key http://www.teleport.com/~alano/ "We had to destroy the Internet in order to save it." - Sen. Exon "I, Caligula Clinton... In the name of the Senate and the people of Rome!" - Bill Clinton signing the CDA with the First Amendment bent over.