Is this snake-oil?
I ran across this web page: http://www.da.com/swp.htm. They claim their 'Cyber-stone' scheme uses a "Pseudo-random Transposition Cipher" to vary the keys for an underlying symmetric cipher for each message. They also claim to have a patent on changing the keys for each message (which seems like something on the level of patenting the 'help' key on a keyboard, or the blinking block cursor. Sigh). I ask if it's snake oil because of the use of non-standard terminology and marketing bullstuff like "A New Way of Encrypting". However neither of those are anywhere near proof of uselessness, only an indication that's "food for thought and grounds for further research". They claim patents: 5,307,412, "Random Coding Cipher System and Method" 5,335,280, "Random Sum Cipher System and Method" 5,533,128, "Pseudo-Random Transposition Cipher System and Method" -- Eric Murray ericm@lne.com Network security and encryption consulting. PGP keyid:E03F65E5 fingerprint:50 B0 A2 4C 7D 86 FC 03 92 E8 AC E6 7E 27 29 AF
Visit http://patent.womplex.ibm.com/ and learn all about it. I don't claim to know much about cryptography, but these sure look like garbage to me.
5,307,412, "Random Coding Cipher System and Method" 5,335,280, "Random Sum Cipher System and Method"
Sender and receiver share what should be a one-time pad, with a trailer on each encrypted each message saying where in the pad to start next time. I don't see any advantage compared to the standard approach of using your pad sequentially other than that this scheme makes it harder to tell when it's used up.
5,533,128, "Pseudo-Random Transposition Cipher System and Method"
Sender and receiver initialize their set of pseudo-random number generators to the same secret thing and use the generated streams of digits to control a transposition cipher. Sheesh. I didn't look at the full patents, just the summaries, so I may have missed something. Please look at the patents themselves before flaming. The IBM web site is a fabulous resource -- they have a CD-ROM farm that provides scanned page images of all the patents issued for the past several decades. Also check out the gallery of obscure patents, e.g., the human slingshot, and the microprocessor controlled belching beer mug. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee, Trumansburg NY Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" and Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://iecc.com/johnl
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