The Data Encryption Standard (DES) is a widely-used symmetric encryption algorithm developed in the 1970s. It was established as a standard for encrypting sensitive data by the U.S. government agency NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology).
DES uses a symmetric key, meaning the same key is used for both encryption and decryption of data. The key is 56 bits long, which is relatively short and considered less secure by today's standards.
DES operates using a Feistel structure, where the input is divided into blocks and encrypted in a series of rounds. Each round employs a substitution-permutation network structure to manipulate the data, working with a portion of the key.
Despite its past widespread use, DES is now considered insecure due to its relatively short key length and advancements in cryptography, particularly in brute-force analysis. It has been replaced by more modern encryption algorithms such as Triple DES (3DES) and the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
