> > >>It is not impossible at all. Merely improbable. Even with current >>techniques. So improbable because ( 2^128 - 1 ) = >>340282366920938463463374607431768211455 is a staggeringly large number. >> Even >>Mathematica takes a pause to factor a number that has prime factors in that >>scale. But it can be done. Like landing on the moon. > > No, it cannot; it is even *theoretically* impossible to brute force a > password of that length. The universe is just not big enough.
Exactly. Just like breaking the sound barrier or landing on the moon right? If we use current numerical methods and theories then we can not brute force factor a number that large. It just can't be done. Period. At all. Ever. Why is it .. I just don't believe you? If your first response, even in your head is "Dennis, you don't know the math" then I caution you that I do have a clue. Perhaps not a well formed one .. but a clue. > When 56 bits keys were introduced they were, perhaps, merely infeasible to > crack; but it was known that it was theoretically possible within 10-20 > years, hence the design lifetime of DES. (Didn't it expire in the 80s or > early 90s?) The old joke was that if you had a million dollars back then you could build a computer that could brute force a 56-bit DES cipher encrypted document. Well a million dollars was a LOT more money back then and computers were a LOT slower. I still think that you may be missing an opportunity to look at other methods being developed. Dennis _______________________________________________ opensolaris-discuss mailing list opensolaris-discuss@opensolaris.org
