A Clear Text Explanation of the AES Cipher

Robert explained that he is implementing Crypt::Rijndael::PP as a pure Perl implementation of the algorithm selected as the AES by NIST.

In this presentation, Robert walked us through a history of the AES. Then, he proceeded through a high-level description of how the algorithm works. He dipped into implementation details where they weren't too overwhelming. He finished the talk with a discussion of some weaknesses that have been found since Rijndael was selected as the AES.

Since this was an extremely technical talk, Robert had to walk a fine line between too much detail and too high-level a description. He managed this quite well, as was shown be a number of really good questions after the talk. The group discussed the presentation and asked quite a few questions afterwards. Even as most of the group left, several people remained for more hard-core discussion that included delving into implementation details and suggestions for improving the implementation when it is converted to C/XS.

Robert also provided some resources if you want to dig into this topic further.

We had 18 people attending this month. As always, we'd like to thank HostGator, LLC for providing the meeting space and food for the group.