Need Help with Dropbear Export Questions

Edward Wang esw103 at yahoo.com
Thu Apr 19 08:40:56 WST 2007


I am currently in the process of trying to obtain clearance to export some 
custom computers out of the U.S.  The computers have Dropbear, and the lawyers 
have questions about Dropbear encryption that I can't answer.   Unfortunately, 
I can not find any documentation online with the answers either.  I'd 
appreciate it if anyone can give the answers or can point me to where I can 
find the answers. 

Here are the questions the lawyers have about Dropbear: 


1.      Describe the symmetric and asymmetric encryption algorithms and key 
lengths and how the algorithms are used (e.g., 56-bit DES, 168-bit DES, 128-bit 
RC4, 448-bit Blowfish, etc.).  Specify which encryption modes are supported 
(e.g., cipher feedback mode or cipher block chaining mode).  For any asymmetric 
algorithms, please specify whether the security of the algorithm is based upon 
any of the following: (a) factorization of integers in excess of 512 bits 
(e.g., RSA); (b) computation of discrete logarithms in a multiplicative group 
of a finite field of size greater than 512 bits (e.g., Diffie-Hellman over 
Z/pZ); or (c) discrete logarithms in a group other than mentioned above in 
excess of 112 bits (e.g., Diffie-Hellman over an elliptic curve). 


2.      State the key management algorithms, including modulus sizes, that are 
supported (e.g., 512-bit RSA, 1024-bit Diffie-Hellman, etc.). 


(I'm sure the answers will be useful to anyone trying to obtain export 
clearance for something that uses Dropbear.) 


Thanks, 
Edward Wang 




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