From: The Low Willow (phoenix@ugcs.caltech.edu)
Date: Tue Dec 24 1996 - 10:26:52 MST
On Dec 23, 6:19pm, Eliezer Yudkowsky wrote:
} > Fantaside:
} > I want fast symmetric kilobit-key encryption. Search space of 10^300.
}
} Search space of 10^300 = 1000^100 = 2^1000.
} 1kbit of quantum dots and your encryption is useless.
Apart from the possible difficulty of making a kilobit quantum computer,
I hadn't heard that they would be useful for cracking symmetric ciphers.
They could factor numbers happily, thus bye-bye RSA and Blum-Blum-Shup;
can they do tons of IDEA or RC4 attempts as well?
James Roger wrote that RC4 is very simple. I know; that's why it's even
weirder. I was told it was: very short and simple (I've seen the code),
not robust (switch two lines and it becomes simple to break; as with
DES, an argument that there is no back door), and possessed of an impure
spectrum, which nonetheless none of the cypherpunks had been able to
exploit, at least usefully. I believe this qualifies as weird.
Actually, I think Hal's name was mentioned in connection with the
analysis of the thing. Are any of my facts wrong?
Merry part,
-xx- Damien R. Sullivan X-) <*> http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~phoenix
And I'll set my sails of silver
And I'll steer toward the sun
And you false love shall weep for me
When I'm gone, when I'm gone, when I'm gone, when I'm GONE!
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