Re: DES & RC4-48 Challenges

[Sam Quigley <poodge@econ.Berkeley.EDU>]

[stuff about running crypto screensavers]

It seems like there's got to be an easy way to divvy up keyspace on a
real time basis so that anyone with a few cycles to spare can
contribute them...

There could be a central server out there, which would keep track of
what keyspace needs to be swept, etc.

Then, clients (available as Mac, DOS, Windows*, UNIX,
etc. screensavers) could, whenever possible, connect to the server,
get a bit of keyspace, and start checking.

The client would tell the server how fast it is (chip and speed), and,
optionally, an estimation of how much time it will have free.  The
server finds some unchecked keyspace and allocates the range.  Then,
when the screensaver ends (when the user starts working again), it
would check in and tell the server how much of the space it checked.

The server could implement multiple passes of the keyspace to cope
with untrusted clients, etc.

Or something like that, anyhow.

The point is, the keyspace should be divided on a spare-cycle basis,
so that people who happen to have some extra, unused time on a
workstation can help without having to follow this list religiously,
and without having to commit to checking a certain amount of keyspace
beforehand.

This really is a nifty concept, and I think a *lot* of people would be
interested in running crypto-cracking screensavers.

--sq