ietf-openpgp
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Re: NIST publishes new DSA draft

2006-03-19 13:23:09

note that 3-DES is now referred to as TDEA
should this perhaps be included in rfc 2440 when 3-DES is
mentioned?
i.e.
when 3-DES is first mentioned,
it should be referred to as 3-DES(also known as TDEA)

They're not the same. There is DES and DEA, just as there is DSA and DSS. In each pair, there is an Algorithm and a Standard. The standard is the algorithm plus other stuff. In the case of DES, it specifies that the low bit of each byte (excuse me, octet) of the key is a parity bit (and possibly other stuff I don't remember). Everyone uses DES, not DEA. What we use is 3DES, not TDEA. In the case of DSS, we *do* mean DSA because there were people who wanted (for example) to use RIPE-MD/160 with DSA, not SHA-1, as DSS.

I suppose we could call it "TDES," but it's been called "3DES" or "Triple-DES" for ages. If all of a sudden we start calling it TDES, there will be many people who will rightly mutter, "TDES? What the % $(_at_)! is TDES? Oh, *3DES*, why didn't you say so?"

        Jon


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