The attack is well-known and famous for requiring only a handful of known plaintexts to perform ; previous methods of cryptanalysis , such as linear and differential cryptanalysis , often require unrealistically large numbers of known or chosen plaintexts , which make them impossible to realize . The attack is notable for requiring only a handful of known plaintexts to perform ; previous methods of cryptanalysis , such as linear and differential cryptanalysis , often require unrealistically large numbers of known or chosen plaintexts .