What Is DES Cryptography?

DES cryptography is based on a special 56-bit encryption key algorithm.

Encryption is a process of converting simple strings of text data into a scrambled version of characters. This cryptographic process is completed by using special hashing algorithms with the unique 56-bit encryption key.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is the governing body that manages encryption standards within the United States. This group accepted DES cryptography as the defined standard for data encryption between the years of 1974 to 2001 for all government agencies.

There were many permutations of the DES cryptography during its reign as the standard for data encryption.

In early 1986 it was used in video ciphering. This encryption process was the defined method used by cable companies to scramble cable video broadcasts. This forced customers to purchase special video cable boxes that included the DES encryption algorithm . This algorithm was required to unscramble the video broadcast.

In 1998 an encryption program was created to prove the weakness of the DES cryptography. This was created by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and known as DES cracker called “Deep Crack.”

The program was able to break the code for DES in 56 hours. This was the final blow to the DES standard, which forced the creation of the new AES standard.