Entrust Technologies' CAST Encryption Algorithm Now Available for Free Commercial and Non-commercial Use.OTTAWA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 24, 1997-- CAST Facilitates Fast, Secure Data Communications data communications, application of telecommunications technology to the problem of transmitting data, especially to, from, or between computers. In popular usage, it is said that data communications make it possible for one computer to "talk" with another. Entrust(R) Technologies announced today that it is making a version of its CAST encryption algorithm A formula used to turn ordinary data, or "plaintext," into a secret code known as "ciphertext." Each algorithm uses a string of bits known as a "key" to perform the calculations. The larger the key (the more bits), the greater the number of potential patterns can be created, thus making available for free commercial and non-commercial use. CAST, a patented algorithm, can be used by companies and developers to create fast, secure data encryption data encryption, the process of scrambling stored or transmitted information so that it is unintelligible until it is unscrambled by the intended recipient. Historically, data encryption has been used primarily to protect diplomatic and military secrets from foreign solutions. "Through this offer, we are encouraging people to take advantage of CAST's performance benefits and features," said Brian O'Higgins, Chief Technology Officer, Entrust Technologies. "We expect people to respond positively to CAST by choosing it in place of other currently used algorithms." The CAST algorithm supports variable key lengths, anywhere from 40 bits to 128 bits in length. This ensures that an appropriate security level is given to data for the intended purpose and enables seamless interoperation with exportable versions of products, where necessary. CAST uses a 64-bit block size which is the same as the Data Encryption Standard See DES. Data Encryption Standard - (DES) The NBS's popular, standard encryption algorithm. It is a product cipher that operates on 64-bit blocks of data, using a 56-bit key. It is defined in FIPS 46-1 (1988) (which supersedes FIPS 46 (1977)). (DES), making it a suitable drop-in replacement. CAST has been shown to be two to three times faster than a typical implementation of DES and six to nine times faster than a typical implementation of triple-DES. CAST is implemented in products from Pretty Good Privacy Inc., IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , Tandem and Microsoft. "I included the CAST encryption algorithm in PGPfone because it's a good block cipher An encryption method that processes the input stream as groups of bytes that are fixed in size, typically 64, 128 or 256 bits long. The state of a block cipher is reset before processing each block. The DES and AES algorithms are examples of block ciphers (see DES and AES). , it's fast, and it's free," said Phil Zimmermann, chairman and chief technology officer, Pretty Good Privacy, Inc. "The design is based on a very formal approach and there are strong arguments that CAST is completely immune to both linear and differential cryptanalysis, the two most powerful forms of attack in the published literature." CAST is a design procedure for symmetric encryption algorithms. Following the design procedure and choosing appropriate values for various parameters creates an algorithm which is tailored to suit particular needs. As a result, CAST defines a family of encryption algorithms, each of which is conceptually simple, and easily implemented, flexible and very efficient in terms of encryption/decryption speed. CAST can be specified as the default in products that require non-proprietary algorithms. Named for its original inventors, Carlisle Adams and Stafford Tavares, CAST is a proven technology based on 10 years of research. It has be subject to external review and intense scrutiny by Entrust Technologies' world-class cryptographic team that includes Michael Wiener, who gained an international reputation by designing a machine for exhaustively cracking DES, and Paul Van Oorschot Paul C. van Oorschot is a cryptographer and computer security researcher, currently a professor of computer science at Carleton University. He is best known as co-author of the Handbook of Applied Cryptography , co-author of the "Applied Handbook of Cryptography (1996)". The algorithm helps companies build encryption products that will interoperate with Entrust, the company's industry leading encryption, digital signature and automated key management software. Entrust Technologies is working in the Internet Engineering Task Force (c/o Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI), Reston, VA, www.ietf.org) Founded in 1986, the IETF is a non-membership, open, voluntary standards organization dedicated to identifying problems and opportunities in IP data networks and proposing technical solutions to the (IETF See Internet Engineering Task Force. IETF - Internet Engineering Task Force ) to have CAST adopted in various standards. Users can get immediate access to the free version of the CAST algorithm. The paper documenting design procedure specifications, which was written by Adams, can be found on the Entrust Web site at www.entrust.com/library.htm. Entrust Technologies, formerly known as Nortel Secure Networks, is dedicated to ensuring the privacy and authenticity of data communications enterprisewide. Entrust Technologies has a team of world-leading experts in cryptography, security architectures and international standards. Its industry leading Entrust software family provides affordable security for enterprise applications across multiple platforms, with fully automated key management. Entrust is widely used by financial institutions, government agencies, high-tech and other corporations. Entrust Technologies is a majority owned subsidiary of Nortel (Northern Telecom) and operates out of its offices in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , California, North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. , and Ottawa, Ontario. Visit Entrust Technologies' website at http://www.entrust.com Entrust is a registered trademark of Entrust Technologies Limited. All other product and company names are trademarks of their respective owners. CONTACT: Shauna White Mike Valentino Entrust Technologies Thomas Associates, Inc. 613-763-9244 212-332-7804 shaunaw@entrust.com mike@nythomaspr.com |
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