Should be in Crypto for criminals, Re: just stupid?

From: Joseph Ashwood (ashwood_at_msn.com)
Date: 07/02/05 

Date: Sat, 02 Jul 2005 10:47:59 GMT

We really should keep this subject to one thread.

<Crypto@S.M.S> wrote in message news:11cbrkrkkie46@news.supernews.com...

> According to many in this newsgroup, AES is the final
> word and will never be defeated. I find that hard to
> believe, in the extreme, and therefore refuse to trust
> my most important secrets to a single algorithm.
>
> The scientists and mathematicians have called that
> approach "snake oil" or "spray & pray", but the engineers
> know better.

That is in itself a poor observation. I have called your design snake-oil
because it shows lack of knowledge, lack of understanding, lack of
intentional design, lack of knowledge of consequences, and the complete lack
of a functioning threat model. Many of your claims are provably false; this
again immediately makes it snake-oil. Your only defense of the system has
been to not address the problems regardless of how they are stated, this
again makes it snake-oil.
                Joe