At 03:45 PM 1/17/96 -6, Peter Trei wrote:

A new 'international' version of Lotus notes is being released, with 64 bit session keys, as opposed to the old 40 bit version.

24 bits of the session key are stored encrypted under a special, government-access RSA public key. This is in addittion to the full 64 bit key being available under the recipient's public RSA key.

The idea is that the USG would have to search only a 40-bit keyspace, while others will need to search a 64-bit keyspace. Reportedly, this 'workfactor reduction key' will NOT be available to foreign governments. My colleague reports that opinion at the conference was divided over whether Lotus was doing something which made good business sense, or whether this was 'caving-in'.

My "vote"? They're "caving-in."