SunScreen SKIP User's Guide, Release 1.5.1

Encryption Algorithms

The following table lists the traffic encryption algorithms supported by SKIP.

Table B-1 Encryption Algorithms

Encryption Algorithm 

Description 

Efficiency 

Security 

DES-CBC

DES uses cipher block chaining (CBC) and a 56-bit key to encrypt 64-bit blocks of plaintext in multiple iterations.  

Moderate 

Excellent 

DES-EDE-K3

DES-EDE-K3 (triple DES) uses three encryption operations and cipher block chaining (CBC) and a 56-bit key to encrypt 64-bit blocks of plaintext in multiple iterations.

Poor 

Excellent 

Safer-128SK-CBC

Safer uses two 64-bit subkeys and cipher block chaining to encrypt variable-length blocks of plaintext. 

Good 

Excellent 

RC2-40 (Restricted to 32-bit mode only for SKIP V1.5.1)

RC-2 uses cipher block chaining (CBC) and a variable-size key to encrypt 64-bit blocks of plaintext. 

Good 

Good 

RC4-128

RC-4 uses a 128-bit key to encrypt data in a continuous stream. 

Excellent 

Excellent 

RC4-40

RC-4 uses a 40-bit key to encrypt data in a continuous stream. 

Excellent 

Poor