Page "Data Encryption Standard" Paragraph 14

: The DES can be said to have " jump started " the nonmilitary study and development of encryption algorithms.

In the 1970s there were very few cryptographers, except for those in military or intelligence organizations, and little academic study of cryptography.

There are now many active academic cryptologists, mathematics departments with strong programs in cryptography, and commercial information security companies and consultants.

A generation of cryptanalysts has cut its teeth analyzing ( that is trying to " crack ") the DES algorithm.

In the words of cryptographer Bruce Schneier, " DES did more to galvanize the field of cryptanalysis than anything else.

Now there was an algorithm to study.

" An astonishing share of the open literature in cryptography in the 1970s and 1980s dealt with the DES, and the DES is the standard against which every symmetric key algorithm since has been compared.