Encryption in the news

[baum@newton.apple.com (Allen J. Baum)]

The latest Microprocessor Reports have an article on WaveMeter, an Nat'l
Semi spinoff. It is basically a smartcard chip, which uses DES to handle
decryption and keep its credit balance secure. The idea is that you
establish credit with a server, over a modem somehow. Then, you can decrypt
the data on a CDROM, which will cost you some of this digital credit. When
your credit balance goes to 0, you can call the server, and withdraw more
digital money. It also, at that time, sends info about which files have
been decrypted, so the owners of that data can be credited.

Also, the newest issue of Government Computing, or something like that, has
an article on the IRS, which is strongly thinking of using RSA for
authentication.
This is primarily because they need something right now, and they can't
wait for the controversy surrounding the NIST DSS standard to settle down.

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