German court: DES is no good

[pgut001@cs.auckland.ac.nz (Peter Gutmann)]

http://www.thestandard.net/articles/display/0,1449,1780,00.html
 
German Court Ruling Another Blow To U.S. Encryption Standard
By Mary Lisbeth D'Amico
 
MUNICH - A German district court has ordered a bank in Frankfurt to repay a 
customer 4,543 marks (US$2,699) for money withdrawn from her bank account 
after her bank card was stolen.
 
The decision, made public Monday, again points to the holes in the 56-bit 
encryption technology used in Eurocheque cards, called EC Cards, according to 
the Chaos Computer Club, a German hackers group.
 
Calling the encryption technology for the EC bank cards "out-of-date and not 
safe enough," a Frankfurt District Court held the bank responsible for the 
amount stolen from the 72-year old plaintiff in February 1997. Neither the 
bank's name or that of the plaintiff were revealed.
 
An EC card is like a bank card which can be used at bank automats and 
point-of-sale terminals throughout Europe. The cards feature the U.S. 
government's data encryption standard, which uses 56-bit encrypted code to 
scramble the security information.
 
[Rest snipped]