Re: appropriate algorithm for application

[Matt Blaze <mab@crypto.com>]

>
>I need an algorithm/protocol that is capable of encrypting numerous
>files with separate keys, but there also needs to be a master key
>that will be able to decrypt all of them.  Is there such a system 
>that is relatively secure?  I'd prefer the system to be as secure
>as possible, but in this application, security is secondary to 
>functionality.  Thanks... //cerridwyn//
>


If you need this "master key" feature embedded in the cryptosystem
itself, you're probably out of luck - such a cipher would be at least
as slow as a public key cryptosystem.  See Blaze, Feigenbaum, Leighton,
"Master-Key Cryptosystems", CRYPTO '96 rump session, available at
ftp://research.att.com/dist/mab/mkcs.ps .

However, you could simulate the function of such a system by
selecting a different key for each file and then encypting each unique
file key with the master encryption key (which could be a public
key or a symmetric key, depending on whether the application that
encrypts the files is trusted to know the master decryption key).
This has the disadvantage, however, of requiring that you store
the encrypted file key with each file, which may or may not be
an issue for you.

-matt