A 17 year-old UK schoolboy has written what is claimed to be the strongest encryption available in the UK – using an unbreakable 2040 bits compared with 56-bit favored by western governments. Peter Parkinson’s Unbreakable Encryption program has been snapped on by online software sales organization Atlantic Coast Plc and is available from their web site at $59 for a single user license. While major software companies are barred from exporting encryption stronger than 56-bit by governments expressing fears that they will be unable to track criminal or terrorist groups, mathematics student Peter took just six months part-time work to come up with a program based on the well-known RC4 algorithm. For those organizations that wish to shield their information from the eyes of governments, obtaining strong encryption software poses little problem – companies in countries like Ireland are filling lucrative gaps in the market created by export bans.
