Submission + - Feds Hold Open Competition for Hash Standard (scitedaily.com)
blee37 writes: The federal government is holding an open competition to decide the next secure hash standard, which will be called SHA-3. The winner will be specified as one of a handful of secure hash algorithms approved for use by all federal agencies for digital signatures, secure key-exchange, and similar protocols. With SHA-1 on the way out and SHA-2 having never gained wide adoption, it is likely that a good SHA-3 algorithm would become the de facto standard. The competition is in the second round and 14 algorithms remain.
The feds have used open competitions to select encryption algorithms in the past — for example DES and AES were chosen this way. The open process makes perfect sense because the government wants as many smart people as possible to submit and try to break each other's codes. Modern encryption algorithms no longer rely on the secrecy of their source code because it is assumed that source code will fall into the wrong hands anyway. Furthermore, the open process creates a perception of greater legitimacy. A hash algorithm handed down directly by the government would be suspected of having a "backdoor" allowing national security agencies to read your messages.
The feds have used open competitions to select encryption algorithms in the past — for example DES and AES were chosen this way. The open process makes perfect sense because the government wants as many smart people as possible to submit and try to break each other's codes. Modern encryption algorithms no longer rely on the secrecy of their source code because it is assumed that source code will fall into the wrong hands anyway. Furthermore, the open process creates a perception of greater legitimacy. A hash algorithm handed down directly by the government would be suspected of having a "backdoor" allowing national security agencies to read your messages.
