Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 21, 2004

The Data Encryption Standard, or DES, is a cipher selected as an official FIPS standard for the United States in 1976, and which has subsequently enjoyed widespread use internationally. The algorithm was initially controversial, with classified design elements, a relatively short key length, and continuing suspicions about a National Security Agency (NSA) backdoor. DES consequently came under intense academic scrutiny, and motivated the modern understanding of block ciphers and their cryptanalysis. Due to its short key length, DES is considered to be insecure for many applications, and has in recent years been superseded by the Advanced Encryption Standard. (more...)