Re: Passphrases in or out

Bennet Yee wrote:
> 
> Yes, the MAC key is derived using assymetric cryptography.  In
> pricinple, however, it does not matter how it is derived -- if it is a
> shared key that is only known to the sender and receiver, then the
> security of the MAC would still hold.

This is not completely correct.  The MAC key is only as strong as the
key exchange algorithm used to create it.  In this case, 512-bit RSA,
which is nowhere near as strong as a true 128-bit secret.

-- 
You should only break rules of style if you can    | Tom Weinstein
coherently explain what you gain by so doing.      | tomw@netscape.com

Received on Monday, 5 August 1996 20:12:50 UTC