[Noisebridge-discuss] Deep Crack

Jacob Appelbaum jacob at appelbaum.net
Thu Oct 8 06:52:04 UTC 2009


Jack Perkins wrote:
> As an outsider to the cryptography scene this sounds really cool to 
> me. I would love to know more about it, especially the history.
> 
> My question is this: What does this machine 'do'? i.e. Does one just 
> give it a code to break and hit go, or is it a complex interactive 
> project? If it's more the former, I have to re-enforce Christie's 
> question:
> 
>>> "But I have to ask why?  Can someone who supports this give a
>>> clear explanation to those of us not quite as enthralled with it
>>> what we would actually do with it besides bring it to the space,
>>> talk about it a lot, turn it on and watch it hum as it pounds
>>> away at some DES key someone found lingering about."

It does a brute force search for the key to a given ciphertext.

To make that possible, many things need to happen. Some software will
likely need to be written and much work will be required. The machine is
over ten years old and probably hasn't cracked a key in just as long.

Best,
Jake

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