Well, since I'm here, I thought I'd satisfy a curiosity of mine. Has anyone done any research, formal or informal, on the use of genetic algorithms to break cyphers? If not, would anyone care to discuss how it might be done?
As I recall, GAs are rather inappropriate for crypto applications, as they tend to give rather inexact answers. In a message where one wrong bit could mean the difference between "en clair" and garbage, they are useless. But for simple substitution ciphers, they can enable one to get "best guess" clear - enough to make the message readable. Hopefully. :) -- Ed Carp, N7EKG erc@apple.com 510/659-9560 anon-0001@khijol.uucp If you want magic, let go of your armor. Magic is so much stronger than steel! -- Richard Bach, "The Bridge Across Forever"