This story appears in the
May 2002 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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With security concerns topping the list of technology worries,
any improvement in that area is good news. After more than 20 years
of use, the U.S. Commerce Department has updated its widely used
encryption standard. The original 1977 vintage 56-bit keys Data
Encryption Standard (DES) has now been officially replaced by the
new Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), which supports up to
256-bit keys. Loosely translated, AES is vastly harder to
crack.
Like the DES before it, AES will be widely adopted for
commercial use. It won't show up in your office with a lot of
fanfare, but it will be creeping into products like firewalls,
network security software and new versions of Web browsers. Expect
AES to be around for a while: The National Institute of Standards
and Technology estimates it to have at least a 20-year life span.
Visit www.nist.gov for more information.