http://nt.excite.com/news/bw/981118/ssh-communications
Last Updated 6:08 AM ET November 18, 1998
State of Art Cryptography Added to SSH Secure Shell; SSH Secure Shell to
Support the Upcoming Security Algorithm Standard
ESPOO, Finland (BUSINESS WIRE) - SSH Communications Security is leading
the way in offering next century security to Internet users. SSH Secure
Shell now has the support for a new, very fast encryption method called
Twofish. With Twofish, SSH Secure Shell offers the opportunity to use some
of the most state of art encryption technologies available. Its users will
especially appreciate the fact that Twofish can encrypt data more securely
and faster than most other algorithms available.
Twofish is AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) candidate from Counterpane
Systems. The design team behind Twofish includes some of the leading
cryptographers of our time, including Bruce Schneier, President of
Counterpane and the author of Applied Cryptography, perhaps the world's
most read book about cryptography.
"SSH Secure Shell has been the de-facto standard for encrypted terminal
connections on the Internet. By incorporating Twofish, SSH will continue
to offer users speedy and secure communications into the next century",
says Schneier, SSH Secure Shell user himself.
New Encryption Standard Emerging
Data Encryption Standard (DES) is the most widely used encryption method
in the world. However, rapid improvements in computing and the resulting
capability to break DES have shown that the algorithm designed in the
1970s has come to the end of its useful life. Researchers have
demonstrated that DES can be broken in less then three days.
The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has initiated
a process to find a replacement for DES. The new algorithm will be named
Advanced Encryption Standard. AES algorithm needs to be strong enough to
protect sensitive data well into the future, but also fast and suitable to
be used in increasingly small devices demanded today, such as smart cards
and mobile devices. SSH Communications Security is actively participating
in the AES evaluation process. The final AES algorithm will be announced
in the year 2000, after a two-year public evaluation period.
"We evaluated most AES candidates for their suitability in our products,
and found Twofish to be a strong candidate", says Markku-Juhani Saarinen,
cryptographer at SSH Communications Security. Twofish has undergone
extensive analysis prior to its release. Experts from SSH Communications
Security who have examined the results of these analysis are convinced
that breaking Twofish in SSH Secure Shell is infeasible.
Next Century Technology Available Now
SSH Secure Shell was the first secure login program that was easy to use
and required little knowledge in cryptography from the user. It is
installed in an uncountable number of computers around the world and is
one of the most widely used cryptographic programs in the world.
Twofish is used in SSH Secure Shell with a 256-bit key. SSH Secure Shell
will support Twofish from version 2.0.11 onwards. Versions supporting
Twofish are available from ftp sites around the globe for trials. For more
details, visit SSH Communications Security at http://www.ssh.fi.
-o-
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Received on Sat Nov 21 11:38:46 1998