Distributed Project Safe-Cracker Network

As the use of strong encryption techniques becomes more prevalent, the methods used by law enforcement to recover encrypted information need to change in order to keep pace. The days of cracking a ZIP file password within an hour are quickly ending as many modern algorithms, like AES, can require testing 2128 different keys. Even assuming a full decrypt operation on an arbitrary length file takes one second, testing all possible keys would require an astronomical amount of time. In the absence of sophisticated cryptanalysis attacks to reduce the complexity of key discovery the only method of decreasing the amount of time to crack a cipher is to speed up the brute force process. One method of decreasing the amount of time needed for a brute force attack is distributed computing. Luna Innovations Incorporated will develop the Distributed Project Safe-Cracker Network, a distributed computing environment for the existing Project Safe-Cracker project, which will allow a massively parallel effort to decrypt files intercepted by Department of Homeland Security Law Enforcement Agencies. Luna s unique combination of experience in security, web-enabled applications, and high performance computing will ensure that we will successfully complete and commercialize the efforts of this SBIR.