Re: Brin on privacy

James Rogers (jamesr@best.com)
Mon, 23 Dec 1996 19:55:40 -0800


>Actually I was told that RC4 _isn't_ totally white; that the cypherpunks
>et al. were gleeful when this was discovered "Ha! This will show RSA
>Inc. to allow public criticism!" and were subsequently confounded when
>the skew in the output proved to be almost worthless in helping to break
>it.
>
>Rudi made RC4 sound very weird.

It is a very, very simple algorithm. Easily the simplest "strong" algorithm
available. The simplicity of the algorithm tends to make me feel that there
is a much smaller probability that there is a security hole in it. One
thing I like about RC4 is that it is so obvious. The mechanisms of the
algorithm are very accessible to just about anyone.

-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com