1. In cryptography, DES (Data Encryption Standard) is the most popular algorithm for encrypting data. It is standardized by the United States government (ANSI X9.17) as well as the ISO. Key point: DES ushered in a new era of cryptography. Before DES, strong encryption was only available to large governments and militaries. Cryptography research was similarly limited. Anything that the average person might use could easily be cracked by a major government. DES created a well-defined, easily verifiable security architecture that was available to anyone. DES-capable products flooded the market. Beyond making encryption products available to anyone, DES essentially created the cryptographic community. Before DES researchers toiled away under government/big-business secrecy, After DES, cryptography became a normal computer-science subject. Whereas DES itself was developed by secretive government agencies (NSA) and mammoth corporations (IBM), DES's replacement will likely be created by relatively independent researchers and the cryptographic community as a whole. Contrast: As of the year 2000, DES has been supplanted by the newer AES. Because DES has only 56-bit keys, it can easily be cracked within hours. Contrast: An increasingly popular form of DES is Triple DES which increases the key strength to 112 bits. History: In September, 1998, a German court ruled DES "out of date and unsafe" for banking applications. From Hacking-Lexicon