A new technique is currently almost completed that proves even further the lack of security provided by DES. Although DES has already been "cracked" by EFF DES Cracker, this technique is a true crack. Unlike EFF DES Cracker, which attacks DES via brute force (trying all possible keys), this new technique actually recovers the key.

If the technique works as designed, a standard P2-400 should be able to recover a full key in less than an hour, possibly as low as ten minutes, from as few as 8 consecutive bytes of known plaintext and ciphertext. This is actually still a huge step up from the EFF DES Cracker, not only timewise, but it is also significantly cheaper.

The technique is also not limited. Research has started on a technique that requires no plaintext at all, but roughly 65 bytes of cyphertext. Further, the technique theoretically can be applied to other ciphers based on DES, such as unix crypt() and triple-DES.

More information will follow in the next few weeks, here on cyberpunks.