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Perfect Encryption

R

ramirez

Member
Me and a coworker were having a convo about this. I read somewhere that every encryption technique is breakable, given enough time. Is there any truth to this? Is there such a thing as a perfect encrytion algorithm that is unbreakable?
 
Every encryption scheme is just a matter of time - eventually you'll run out of possible keys. It's just that sometimes a matter of time is a matter of decades or centuries of CPU time.
 
Originally posted by: orakle
Every encryption scheme is just a matter of time - eventually you'll run out of possible keys. It's just that sometimes a matter of time is a matter of decades or centuries of CPU time.
Click to expand...

This is what I was trying to prove. Do you know of any good links to prove this? I couldn't find any...
 
Originally posted by: ramirez
Originally posted by: orakle
Every encryption scheme is just a matter of time - eventually you'll run out of possible keys. It's just that sometimes a matter of time is a matter of decades or centuries of CPU time.
Click to expand...

This is what I was trying to prove. Do you know of any good links to prove this? I couldn't find any...
Click to expand...

Well, amount of CPU time depends on the encryption algorithm.

Just think about it logically.

Every encryption needs a key, and in strong encryption it's a matter of guessing the key. So it's just a matter of time (it can be a long time) before the key is guessed.
 
Originally posted by: totalcommand
Originally posted by: ramirez
Originally posted by: orakle
Every encryption scheme is just a matter of time - eventually you'll run out of possible keys. It's just that sometimes a matter of time is a matter of decades or centuries of CPU time.
Click to expand...

This is what I was trying to prove. Do you know of any good links to prove this? I couldn't find any...
Click to expand...

Well, amount of CPU time depends on the encryption algorithm.

Just think about it logically.

Every encryption needs a key, and in strong encryption it's a matter of guessing the key. So it's just a matter of time (it can be a long time) before the key is guessed.
Click to expand...

Right, there are only so many letters/number/characters in existance...that being said, there will always be the potential to "guess" the key
 
A 'one time pad' encoded message with a truly random key the same length of the message is unbreakable (not accounting for user error).

The problem is that it is hard to be that random, and user error happens.
So.. uh.. nothing is perfect.
 
There is one that is said to be unbreakable - they use a fiber link between two points and due to quantum mechanics any listener can be detected.
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/quantumfiber.htm
Conventional encryption is typically based on mathematical complexity and may be broken given sufficiently powerful computers and enough time. In contrast, QKD produces encryption codes based on the quantum states of individual photons and is considered ?verifiably secure.? Under the principles of quantum physics, measuring a photon's quantum state destroys that state. QKD systems are specifically designed so that eavesdropping causes detectable changes in the system.
Click to expand...

Its explained very well in "The Code Book", along with lots of other cryptography stuff.
http://www.amazon.com/Code-Book-Science-Secrecy-Cryptography/dp/0385495323
 
With encrypted comms, why bother trying to break the transmission encryption? It'd be quicker and easier to find where the data is stored and take it from there. Most stuff today is bulk encrypted via a KG-75 (FASLANE) or a KG-175 (TACLANE). You won't be cracking those in your lifetime even if they didn't perform keychanges.
 
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