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Microcap & Penny Stocks : JAWS Technologies - NASDAQ (NM):JAWZ -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Enam Luf who wrote (940)	9/21/1998 4:54:00 PM
From: justaninvestor	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3086

Hi Enam You said "longer key length doesn't necessarily constitute higher security, in most cases, the algorithm used is normally the weak point. Most crypto algorithms are flawed and can be circumvented, rather than hacked by breaking the key." I am no expert in cryptology, but I didn't invest in this company simply because Jaws told me they had "good" encryption. I based a lot of my faith on the research done by SNC Lavalin, one of the world's largest engineering firms. I would also like to emphasize (again) that the L5 algorithm is not only strong, but fast and small - 2 components which should not be overlooked. The following excerpt is from the Website - I would draw your attention to the very last paragraph. Barrie Einarson bbruin@home.com Summmary Report of Jaws Technologies L5 Encryption Algorithm and Software by SNC Kilborn Western Inc. Preamble -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Certain comments contained in the reports issued on the Jaws Technologies Inc. software and other products currently being developed are not suitable for public dissemination due to the highly sensitive nature of the company's development, marketing tactics and enhancement initiatives. This report contains excerpts from various evaluation reports as supplied by Kilborn Western Inc. Such excerpts are verbatim. Author -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kilborn Western Inc. - A Member of the SNC Lavalin Group of Companies Mr. Don Madge Senior Systems Engineer and Manager Advanced Systems Engineering October 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is unbreakable code? The following definition of an unbreakable code is offered as a means of establishing a benchmark criterion for comparing the L5 algorithm to other encryption schemes. A code is exactly unbreakable if its key or keys cannot be deciphered in a finite number of tries. This definition implies a non-finite or infinite number of tries. A statistically unbreakable code is one that does not yield its key in less than a large number of tries. This number is large enough to make the cost of trying unrewarding or even prohibitive. A popular term nowadays is strong encryption to describe a code that is obviously nearly impossible to break if not exactly unbreakable. How good is the L5 algorithm? For starters, the L5 code is an efficient easy to use means of private key encryption. It appears to be a very strong form of encryption. Here are some of the L5 strong points: L5 has a very large key, being expandable upwards from 4096 bits, which is the current level. Currently the largest commonly usable encryption methodology has a 128 bit encryption key. This is for secure transmission using a Netscape browser on the Internet. It is available only in the US and Canada and supplants the former 64 bit system. Outside of certain major corporations, e.g. telephone companies and banks, how this encryption works is unknown. L5 uses a chain of linked keys. The key used by L5 is generated iteratively from each 4096 block of data. L5 produces a random encryption. Each time a given file is encrypted a completely different pattern of data emerges. When condensed to a smaller entity, i.e. hash totalled, the resultant sequence, representing the chain of encryptions will be pseudo-random. L5 encryptions are not the same length as the original and do not have definite starting markers. L5 does not offer any obvious means of creating a back door key for escrow purposes. The non existence of a back door may be a necessary condition for being exactly unbreakable. The L5 methodology is claimed to be able to withstand the publication of its methodology. Possession of this documentation and the source code, by any party, would not reduce the strength of the encryption, for any other party. Apart from the issue of publication, all the above features were identified, but not verified. In order to verify these claims we would have to conduct an intensive audit through the system using the source code. What is so complicated about this algorithm? To begin the algorithm involves the following steps as previously outlined: Seeding with a user designed key Mapping under a simple cipher Recursion or cumulatively applying an XOR transformation. Replicating to expand the key to 4096 bits. Randomizing the encryption by base alteration, and the insertion of random length segments of pseudo-random strings. Iterating the above process for each 4096 bit segment of the file to be encrypted. Certain recommendations have been provided to JAWS by Kilborn to enhance the L5 product further. Such comments have NOT been contained due to the highly sensitive nature of the industry and our business. March 1998 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our examination has revealed the sophistication and elegance of the L5 procedure. In particular: The L5 procedure is an advanced encryption technique that is probably unbreakable even with the computing capabilities of the largest and fastest computers in the world. We say "probably unbreakable" in that advances in military encryption in the United States are cloaked in high level secrecy. These are the so-called "deep purple" codes that use hierarchical or layered encryption schemes. It is possible that military code breaking schemes could break the L5 code in the same manner that the Bletchley Park code breakers broke the German Enigma codes during the Second World War. The L5 producer can be accurately described as "Strong private encryption" in terms of implementation and setting. By setting we mean that a group within a group can ensure a private setting, because there is no means available to the outside group that will enable them to break the private codes of the inner group. In some circles this may be undesirable, but in the Jaws context it provides the mainstay of the market niche. We are impressed by the user friendliness of the system and the way it blends into the Windows 95 working environment. We can see potential for combining compression and encryption as a single procedure. The system is remarkably fast even for large files such as Microsoft Access databases. We are enormously impressed by the intellectual component of this work and hold the author in the highest esteem for this software achievement."