128-bit cipher

[QLearnerNow]

Hi Guys,

I just had a problem with IE trying to access a site which was 128 bit Cipher when my browser could handle only 56 bit cipher so I upgraded.

Im just wondering what on earth does cipher mean??

Thank you,
QLearnerNow

 

[cdogg]

There are thousands of sites out there that can answer your question. Here's the first one I pulled from a google search:

http://www.pressganey.org/faq/ecompass/default.shtm

"Cipher strength" deals with SSL. If you search for info on SSL, you'll find what you're looking for...

__________________________________________________

~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[madonnac]

cypher refers to encryption - the more bits, the safer your secure session is

note that 56bit takes approx 1 hour to break - every extra bit doubles the required time

57bit 2 hrs
58bit 4 hrs
59bit 8 hrs
....
128bit 540 million billion years

 

[cdogg]

"[blue]million billion[/blue]" huh?
[LOL]

I don't know where you got the lengths of time it takes to break each one, but yes, the basic point is that the higher the cipher strength, the more secure the connection.

__________________________________________________

~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[madonnac]

2^(128-56) /24 /365, and do some rounding....

539,082,931,834,434,385.125.......

 

[cdogg]

OK, thanks for doing the math!

However, the real question I was getting at was where did that formula come from? Who states that 56-bit can be broken in 2 hours and that every extra bit takes an additional 2 hours?

That's something I've never heard of. Surely 56-bit is a little more secure than 2 hours of hacking...

__________________________________________________

~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[madonnac]

sorry, it's not - a recent competition by RSA had a group (using distributed processing) break the 56 bit encypted message in just 1 hour

each additional bit increases the amount of different keys by 2, therefore the time to break the key will be incrased by 2 - follow this through to 128 bit, and you get that stupidly large number

 

[cdogg]

interesting...

If you have any links for further reading, I would appreciate it. Thanks!

__________________________________________________

~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[madonnac]

OOps - missed on the time - it's 1 day, not 1 hour - so multiply the final time by 24

http://www.rsasecurity.com/rsalabs/challenges/des3/index.html

also search on google for

challenge rsa OR des

 

[QLearnerNow]

Thanks guys!! the information youve given is fantastic. I appreciate your help.

Regards,
QLearnerNow