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.

• His presentation is available on-line.
• The source for Crypt::Rijndael::PP is available on Github.
• For more information, check out NIST Specification of AES
• The AES Related Key Attacks paper is also on-line.

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.