Tuesday, February 11, 2003

Unbreakable Encryption?


Several readers have pointed to an Israeli company's claim of achieving unbreakable encryption. The linked article reports this claim uncritically. Do you think there's such a thing as unbreakable encryption? This isn't the first time someone's made this claim, or second, or third ...


I think what they probably mean is "unbreakable within the lifespan of the solar system given exponential growth in computer power and no new cryptanalytic techniques being developed". But I think we've already got that with existing algorithms for large enough key lengths.


Fundamentally, though, it's probably a non-issue either way. Even mediocre crytpography is probably the strongest link in most systems. My friend Rob Engberg used to liken most security systems to a giant castle with a moat and huge walls...whose drawbridge is made out of Nerf.

2 comments:

  1. If one is more imaginative than being limited by algorithms encryption can be unbreakable - definately!

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  2. What does "not being limited by algorithms" even mean?

    ReplyDelete