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The Next Y2K Problem (?)
At the moment there are computer systems all over the world that rely on
40 bits passwords encryption or a a worst encryption scheme. The main
reason for that is the various bans imposed by the U.S. government and
other governments on the use of powerful encryption algorithms.
At present, 40 bits encrpytion cannot be easily broken by using one's home
computer alone. But computers are getting faster and faster all the time.
There is a rough estimation on the cost of processing power as plotted by
time. Assuming a potential cracker chooses the configuration with the
lowest price, (E.g: a network of several Pentium machines) what will be
the cost to break an N-bit encryption at year X?
Close to that time, all the computer systems will have to be updated in
order to prevent them from being exploited. This may create a
frenzy not like what the Y2K problem is causing today. Of-course, large
institutions such as banks have to worry first, because an intruder may be
willing to invest a larger sum of money to break into their systems.
Does anyone have, or can show me to data that will enable us to estimate
at what year will 40-bit, 64-bit, etc. data encryption algorithms will
become ineffective?
Shlomi Fish
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Shlomi Fish shlomif@t2.technion.ac.il
Home Page: http://t2.technion.ac.il/~shlomif/
Home E-mail: shlomif@ibm.net
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