Re: A Snake-Oil FAQ

[Simon Spero <ses@tipper.oit.unc.edu>]

[sorry Perry]

On Sun, 21 Jul 1996, David Sternlight wrote:

> So is your comment. What was broken was not public key, but a particular
> key length (and by implication shorter ones). You can do that with just
> about any system, even a one-time pad, by brute force, but it won't buy you

Really? The only way I know of forcing a one-time pad is to use a hardware
QM-based random number generator to generate every possible decrypt, thus
creating a number of universes equal to the number of possible keys. Since
you can't tell if you're universe is the right one, one should always
verify the information obtained against a second source. IANAL, so I can't
say if such a decrypt would count as probably cause. 

Simon

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