As I understand it, triple-DES is not simply "three times stronger" than regular DES, but actually an order of magnitude stronger. Rather than encrypting three times, you encrypt, decrypt, and encrypt again with different keys. And trying to decrypt garbage is far more difficult than decrypting plaintext. I realize that the primary method of crack is guessing weak passwords, but it also attempts to decrypt. And given the weakness of single-DES, it isn't that hard. So anything that improves cryptographic strength is good. Also, it reduces the harm caused by weak passwords, and adds value to strong passwords. I also realize that the ideal solution would be to eliminate fixed passwords and replace them with some sort of double-blind, smart-client scheme. But it won't work, not as long as we're dependent on existing clients like telnet and ftp working. I'd say that we're pretty much stuck with the current methodology as long as we're stuck with unix and the Internet. That leaves improving the existing scheme as our best hope. If you have any *feasable* solutions, I'd be very interested. -- * David Faron Stagner * National Computer Systems david_stagner@ic.ncs.com * 2510 N Dodge St vox 319 354 9200 ext 6884 * Iowa City, IA 52244 fax 319 339 6555 I disclaim my employer and I'm sure they'd disclaim me too. (This .sig has been sanitized for your protection)