Dear Friend, My name is Dave Rhodes. In 1997 my cipher designs had all been broken, my patents declared without merit, and NIST had rejected my preliminary AES submission. Then in early 1998 I received a letter in the mail telling me how I could earn fame as a cryptographer whenever I wanted. I was naturally very skeptical and threw the letter on the desk next to my computer. It's funny though, when you are desperate, backed into a corner, your mind does crazy things. I spent a frustating day looking through the DES S-boxes for better differentials, but the pickings were sparse at best. That night I tried to unwind by reading a few security newsgroups. I read several of the posts and then glanced at the letter next to the computer. All at once it came to me, I now had the key to my dreams. This year I presented a paper at Crypto'98 and have one accepted for Eurocrypt'99. Cryptographers from all over the world come to me for advice, and NIST has asked me to be on the AES evaluation board. I will have my own crypto conference within 4 or 5 months. Anyone can do the same. This crypto method works perfectly every time, 100% of the time. Best of all you never have to leave home except to go to your mailbox or post office. I realized that with the power of the computer I could expand and enhance this method into the most unbelievable system that has ever been created. I substituted email in place of the post office and electronically did by computer what others were doing 100% by mail. Most of the hard work is speedily handled by computers throughout the world. If you believe that someday you deserve that lucky break that you have waited for all your life, simply follow the easy instructions below. Your dreams will come true. Sincerely yours, Dave Rhodes INSTRUCTIONS Follow these instructions EXACTLY, and in 20 to 60 days you will have searched well over 50 trillion DES keys. This program has remained successful because of the honesty and integrity of the participants. Please continue its success by carefully adhering to the instructions. 1. Immediately send the following ciphertext/plaintext pair below to ten friends: 12F7E88920:0A2DE3172B 2. Remove the searched keyspace that appears at number 1 on the list below. Move the other 9 sets of searched keyspaces up one position. Number 2 will become number 1 and number 3 will become number 2, etc. Place the keyspace you've searched in the number 10 position. 3. Post the message with the keyspace you've tried in the number 10 position into 10 separate newsgroups or mailing lists, call the file BREAK.DES.FAST. 4. Within 60 days you will receive over 50 trillion further DES keys which people have tried. This is not a scam. This is perfectly legal. If you have any doubts, refer to 22 USC Sec 2778. [Keyspace list snipped]