This document provides an overview of the Data Encryption Standard (DES) block cipher. It discusses how DES uses a Feistel network structure with 16 rounds to encrypt 64-bit blocks. Each round uses a 48-bit subkey generated from the original 56-bit key. The document also summarizes analyses of DES's security, noting that while it remains uncompromised, dedicated hardware has broken it in days and differential cryptanalysis provides a theoretical attack in 247 steps. Overall, the document gives a high-level technical introduction to the DES standard and analyses of its security.