It's a heartache, nothing but a heartache. Hits you when it's too late, hits you when you're down. It's a fools' game, nothing but a fool's game. Standing in the cold rain, feeling like a clown.
When singer Bonnie Tyler recorded in her distinctive raspy voice "It's A Heartache" in 1978, you'd think she was an oracle of sorts, predicting the rocky road that encryption would have to travel.
Just a year earlier in 1977 the Encryption Standard (DES) became the federal standard for block symmetric encryption (FIPS 46). But, oh, what a disappointment encryption DES would become. In less than 20 years since its inception, DES would be declared DOA (dead on arrival), impenetrable NOT.
How could that possibly be?