🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993Jan10.060013.4644@csi.uottawa.ca> cbbrowne@csi.uottawa.ca (Christopher Browne) writes:
>
>If it "only" costs $56, then they must have some CHEAP ways to break
>DES, unless they're COMPLETELY ignoring the cost of computer
>resources.  In short, for $56 a pop, they can't be using brute force.
>Maybe they can use differential analysis.  Maybe they can use
>something analogous to D.A.  But for $56 per pop, they're either
>lying, or they have SOME "silver bullet."

	I have a modest familiarity with government accounting,
	being married to a government accountant, and it does
	work in mysterious ways but let me comment on this anyway.

	If the machine(s) had been bought for a specific purpose,
	e.g. reading DES, then the cost of the machine would have
	to be included in the cost of the decrypt.  If the machine
	was already present and being used to heat the parking tower
	in winter, then its purchase price need not be include in the
	cost of the decryption.  What would have to be included would
	be the cost of developing the decryption procedure, writing the
	software, mounting and debugging it.

	Then, of course, you can amortize these costs over the prime factors
	of the cost of a B-2 bomber...

	Alec Chambers