...

One thing this shows, even if the application of the technique turns out to be too difficult to be practical, is that Dorothy Denning's evaluation of the design was worthless. That team should have found this themselves. No wonder she was trying to play it down in the NYT.

It was my understanding that Denning was just looking at the Skipjack algorithm, and not the clipper unit as a whole. I wouldn't be too quick to condemn her on this point.

Of course, Dorothy Denning could simply say, "Gosh, the Blaze result shows how to make Clipper _more_ secure for the average user. Now they don't have to worry about the government. I stand by my assessment that it is secure."