AES 和 DES 都是对称分组密码的例子，但有某些不同之处。
| AES | DES |
|---|---|
| AES stands for Advanced Encryption Standard | DES stands for Data Encryption Standard |
| The date of creation is 1999. | The date of creation is 1976. |
| Byte-Oriented. | Bit-Oriented. |
| Key length can be 128-bits, 192-bits, and 256-bits. | The key length is 56 bits in DES. |
| Number of rounds depends on key length: 10(128-bits), 12(192-bits), or 14(256-bits) | DES involves 16 rounds of identical operations |
| The structure is based on a substitution-permutation network. | The structure is based on a Feistel network. |
| The design rationale for AES is open. | The design rationale for DES is closed. |
| The selection process for this is secret but accepted open public comment. | The selection process for this is secret. |
| AES is more secure than the DES cipher and is the de facto world standard. | DES can be broken easily as it has known vulnerabilities. 3DES(Triple DES) is a variation of DES which is secure than the usual DES. |
| The rounds in AES are: Byte Substitution, Shift Row, Mix Column and Key Addition | The rounds in DES are: Expansion, XOR operation with round key, Substitution and Permutation |
| AES can encrypt 128 bits of plaintext. | DES can encrypt 64 bits of plaintext. |
| AES cipher is derived from an aside-channel square cipher. | DES cipher is derived from Lucifer cipher. |
| AES was designed by Vincent Rijmen and Joan Daemen. | DES was designed by IBM. |
| No known crypt-analytical attacks against AES but side channel attacks against AES implementations possible. Biclique attacks have better complexity than brute force but still ineffective. | Known attacks against DES include Brute-force, Linear crypt-analysis, and Differential crypt-analysis. |