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Now From Bruce Schneier, the Skein Hash Function

An anonymous reader writes "Bruce Schneier and company have created a new hash function called Skein. From his blog entry: 'NIST is holding a competition to replace the SHA family of hash functions, which have been increasingly under attack. (I wrote about an early NIST hash workshop here.) Skein is our submission (myself and seven others: Niels Ferguson, Stefan Lucks, Doug Whiting, Mihir Bellare, Tadayoshi Kohno, Jon Callas, and Jesse Walker). Here's the paper."

20 of 139 comments (clear)

  1. what kind of function is that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    a skin rash function? WTF?!?

  2. Good to see Bruce back by CRCulver · · Score: 5, Funny

    I had long feared that the skilled cryptographer Bruce Schneier, author of Applied Cryptography , had been utterly replaced by Bruce Schneier the security consultant who peddles his wares in all of his recent lightweight publications. It's nice to see the cryptographer return.

    1. Re:Good to see Bruce back by melikamp · · Score: 2, Funny

      Actually, you got it all wrong. As anyone concerned with personal security, Bruce Schneier has a decoy.

    2. Re:Good to see Bruce back by FrangoAssado · · Score: 2, Funny

      So basically, this would mean a large number of the worlds finest mathematicians are working tirelessly to create something that is by definition mathematically impossible.

      Yes, discounting the redefinition of impossible, it would mean that. :-)

  3. Time to get glasses by smooth+wombat · · Score: 4, Funny

    Read the title as "Skin Hash Function". For a moment, wasn't sure if this was a SFW article.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    1. Re:Time to get glasses by Phreakiture · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, me too. I had wondered if there was some sort of cream you could put on it.

      --
      www.wavefront-av.com
    2. Re:Time to get glasses by gardyloo · · Score: 4, Funny

      Of course! Or it gets the hose again.

  4. A likely story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    How do we know he's not just spinning a good yarn here?

  5. Re:FYI: Skein is pronounced like vein (i.e. "skane by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Funny, your website indicates the star trek pronunciation \'Skhaaaaaaaaan\

  6. Re:What the hell is Threefish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    What the hell is Threefish

    A 50% improvement over Twofish?

  7. Re:What the hell is Threefish by andrewd18 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Personally, I'm waiting for the cypher built on Onefish, Twofish, Redfish, and Bluefish.

  8. Re:Hax by The+Clockwork+Troll · · Score: 5, Funny

    Did you know your uid is a prime number when interpreted in base 7 or 11?

    How do you sleep at night?

    --

    There are no karma whores, only moderation johns
  9. Re:Bearforce Schneier? by LotsOfPhil · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oh, please don't click on the Bearforce link with your speakers turned on/up. Sorry!

    --
    This post climbed Mt. Washington.
  10. the algorithm's no good by BitterAndDrunk · · Score: 2, Funny

    Not enough rhyming collisions

    --
    You better watch out, there may be dogs about . . .
  11. Re:What the hell is Threefish by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 4, Funny

    or what about Redfish and Bluefish?

    --
    "But this one goes to 11!"
  12. Quick trick function stack by TiggertheMad · · Score: 5, Funny

    Personally, I'm waiting for the cypher built on Onefish, Twofish, Redfish, and Bluefish.

    I do not like it encrypting my stocks,
    I do not like it securing my box,
    I do not like it, sam-I-am.

    --

    HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
  13. Bruce Schneier Facts by brunes69 · · Score: 4, Funny

    There are no finite state machines. There are only a series of states that Bruce Schneier allows to exist.

    Bruce Schneier can tell you where to find your GPG key into the digits of PI.

    Bruce Schneier owns a chicken that lays scrambled eggs. Whenever he wants a hard-boiled egg, he just unscrambles one.

    SHA = "Schneier has access" SHA2 = "Schneier has access - and a spare too"

    When transmitted over any socket, Bruce Schneier's public key causes libpcap to enter an infinite malloc loop.

    Bruce Schneier knows Alice and Bob's shared secret.

    Bruce Schneier's secure handshake is so strong, you won't be able to exchange keys with anyone else for days.

    Bruce Schneier knows the state of schroedinger's cat

    When Bruce Schneier observes a quantum particle, it remains in the same state until he has finished observing it.

    Bruce Schneier once decrypted a box of AlphaBits.

    http://geekz.co.uk/schneierfacts/

  14. Re:Sounds good, but MD5 et al. still have a place by Lord+Ender · · Score: 4, Funny

    Given a specific dataset with a specific MD5 hash, you can create another dataset with the same hash in minimal time (a few minutes on a modern computer).

    That isn't even remotely true. MD5 has been demonstrated to be easier to break than advertised, therefore it is wise to use better hashes. But when I say "better than advertised" I'm saying defeating a good hash is about as easy as any of us getting Angelina Jolie in the sack; but someone has discovered a trick that makes defeating MD5 about as easy as bagging Paris Hilton. For all practical purposes, none of us will achieve either, but Paris is still no Angelina Jolie...

    --
    A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
  15. Re:What the hell is Threefish by redF1sh · · Score: 2, Funny

    If you take the redfish, you can go back to your previous life...

    Hey, leave me alone!

  16. Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything by mfh · · Score: 2, Funny

    Did you know your uid is a prime number when interpreted in base 7 or 11?

    It's also the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything (once you adjust for inflation, from 42).

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.