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Crack the Code and Win a Million Bucks
JS_RIDDLER noted a Toronto Star article about a sort of contest to
crack some encryption and win a million bucks. The article is a bit fluffy, but it getst the point across... we wasted all those RC5 keys ;)
it's really a one time pad. =)
"And a voice was screaming: 'Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?'" - HST
The code is 42!
What ever happened to the DMCA? That $1M is going to dissolve rather quickly when said coder realizes he has a lot of legal fees to pay.
No reverse engineering and cracking, kids.
One million dollars split between 500,000 people is what??? TWO DOLLARS!!! Well, at least we'll be able to pay that annoying paper boy...
It's a trick.
Mathwiz: "Hello? I think I may have cracked your encryption".
NSA: "Great. Just stay where you are and we'll over with you money in a second".
[40 seconds later]
Police: "Drop your weapon and step out side!"
Mathwiz: "But I'm unarmed!! Dude!"
Police: "I said DROP YOUR WEAPON".
[BLAM!]
Basically, take a company's claim with a grain of salt. Right now I'll keep my data encrypted with something more tested (3DES anyone?).
Why bother?
I encrypt all my data with rot13, and rely on the DMCA to keep me safe. Remember, if Moore's law holds then any encryption will be cracked in a few decades, but I doubt DMCA will be repealed in that timeframe!
How ironic that a quantum leap is also the smalles possible leap to occur...
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As for Elliptic Curve Cryptography as mentioned in this article - it's still in its infancy - at least compared to other ciphers. This is just a stupid publicity show. But I bet I can win that $1M with an investment of under $20.
How about I provide the financial backing for your plan and we split the profit.
--
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Of course, a quantum leap is a very small leap.
Not to an electron.
I'd rather win a million legally.
I don't think cellmate Bubba would be interested in that particular crack.
As has been pointed out, demonstrably crackable encryption is OK for data with an expiry date. Credit card numbers, for instance, are usually only good for 3 years or so -- you get a new number with the new card.
Still, I worry about any closed-source encryption technology. Imagine somebody coming up to you and saying in a cheesy mexican accent: "Hey, extranjero! You want to send top-secret message? No problemo, Amigo! I know secret code, so secret only me and my brother know it. You give me message, si, you dictate, one words at a time. I write it down in secrets codes and send it to my brothers. He only one in whole wides worlds who understand it. But my brother, he take it to your amigo, si, and he tell the message one word a times. Is very good. Top-secret. Only me and my brothers knows the code."
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
thats just what they want you to think...