<s>
DESCHALL	O
,	O
short	O
for	O
DES	B-Algorithm
Challenge	O
,	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
group	O
to	O
publicly	O
break	O
a	O
message	O
which	O
used	O
the	O
Data	B-Algorithm
Encryption	I-Algorithm
Standard	I-Algorithm
(	O
DES	B-Algorithm
)	O
,	O
becoming	O
the	O
$	O
10,000	O
winner	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
of	O
the	O
set	O
of	O
DES	B-Algorithm
Challenges	O
proposed	O
by	O
RSA	O
Security	O
in	O
1997	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
search	O
the	O
72	O
quadrillion	O
possible	O
keys	O
of	O
a	O
56-bit	O
DES	B-Algorithm
key	O
using	O
conventional	O
computers	O
was	O
considered	O
impractical	O
even	O
in	O
the	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
So	O
they	O
set	O
up	O
a	O
server	B-Application
on	O
a	O
486-based	O
PS/2	B-Device
PC	O
with	O
56MB	O
of	O
memory	O
and	O
announced	O
the	O
project	O
via	O
Usenet	B-Application
towards	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
March	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
two	O
other	O
main	O
contenders	O
:	O
SoINET	O
(	O
a	O
Swedish	O
group	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
group	O
at	O
Silicon	O
Graphics	O
,	O
a	O
manufacturer	O
of	O
high-performance	B-Architecture
computers	I-Architecture
,	O
which	O
was	O
in	O
the	O
lead	O
until	O
late	O
in	O
the	O
day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
groups	O
using	O
supercomputers	B-Architecture
withdrew	O
after	O
SYN	O
flood	O
attacks	O
on	O
their	O
networks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
number	O
of	O
computers	O
being	O
used	O
rose	O
rapidly	O
and	O
in	O
the	O
end	O
,	O
a	O
total	O
of	O
78,000	O
different	O
IP	B-Protocol
addresses	I-Protocol
had	O
been	O
recorded	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
maximum	O
of	O
14,000	O
unique	O
hosts	O
in	O
a	O
24-hour	O
period	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
conclusion	O
of	O
the	O
paper	O
describing	O
the	O
project	O
was	O
"	O
We	O
have	O
demonstrated	O
that	O
a	O
brute-force	O
search	O
of	O
DES	B-Algorithm
keyspace	O
is	O
not	O
only	O
possible	O
,	O
but	O
is	O
also	O
becoming	O
practical	O
for	O
even	O
modestly	O
funded	O
groups	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RSA	O
's	O
prize	O
for	O
the	O
find	O
was	O
US$	O
10,000	O
;	O
it	O
is	O
safe	O
to	O
say	O
that	O
DES	B-Algorithm
is	O
inadequate	O
for	O
protecting	O
data	O
of	O
any	O
greater	O
value.	O
"	O
</s>
