Encryption source code with md5

[geremy condra]

On Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 8:42 PM, Robert Kern <robert.kern at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 2010-04-04 17:44 , geremy condra wrote:
>>
>> On Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 6:03 PM, Robert Kern<robert.kern at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>>
>>> On 2010-04-03 20:21 , Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
>>>>
>>>> In message<4baf3ac4$0$22903$e4fe514c at news.xs4all.nl>, Irmen de Jong
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On 28-3-2010 12:08, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Don’t use MD5.
>>>>>
>>>>> Also, md5 is not an encryption algorithm at all, it is a secure hashing
>>>>> function.
>>>>
>>>> You can use hash functions for encryption.
>>>
>>> You can *build* an encryption algorithm out of hash functions as a
>>> primitive, yes. Paul Rubin's p3.py is an example of using SHA-1 to build
>>> an
>>> encryption algorithm:
>>>
>>>  http://www.nightsong.com/phr/crypto/p3.py
>>>
>>> However, a hash function is not an encryption algorithm itself. One does
>>> not
>>> "encrypt with md5" as the OP asked. For crypto-knowledgeable people, this
>>> may just be an issue of terminology (although I think an important one),
>>> but
>>> I think it demonstrates the ignorance of the OP and the need for Irmen's
>>> clarification.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Robert Kern
>>
>> I don't mean to disrespect Paul Rubin, but p3.py comes up in every
>> discussion
>> of cryptography in python on this list and, AFAICT, has yet to come under
>> significant cryptanalytic scrutiny. That doesn't make it a bad example in
>> this
>> case, but I would caution the OP that it probably doesn't make it a good
>> candidate for your encryption needs.
>
> For people looking for standardized cryptography, Google works fine to find
> PyCrypto or M2Crypto. p3 comes up so often in this group because people that
> need to ask here are looking for reasonably performant, pure-Python crypto,
> and p3 is the best-of-breed given those constraints (it happens to be
> mentioned here as an example, not a recommendation). Its security derives
> from its use of standardized, well-scrutinized components (and no, the
> recent attacks on SHA-1 do not affect the security properties that p3 relies
> on). It will probably never receive the kind of attention that AES or the
> rest get because it will never be fast enough to even be considered a peer
> of those algorithms.
>
> --
> Robert Kern

I have no comment on why it hasn't received substantial attention; my point
is simply that it hasn't, and that without that scrutiny it probably isn't wise
to depend on its security. There are plenty of tried-and-true cryptosystems
to use; people without an extensive knowledge of what they're getting into
should be encouraged to use them. Apologies if it sounded like I was
claiming more.

Geremy Condra