64-bit encryption -- And all it took was 15,769,938,165,961,326,592 keys
Source: Vnunet
After millions of hours of processor work and four years of human effort, the RC5 64-bit encryption algorithm has finally been broken.
Using 331,252 volunteer machines, a crypto group called Distributed.net cracked RSA Security's encryption challenge and picked up a cheque for $10,000.
"While it's debatable that the duration of this project does much to devalue the security of a 64-bit RC5 key, we can say with confidence that RC5-64 is not an appropriate algorithm to use for data that will still be sensitive in more than a few years' time," said the successful group.
After 15,769,938,165,961,326,592 keys, a PC in Tokyo returned the winning solution to the Distributed.net key servers.
The key was delivered on 14 July, but a glitch in the reporting software meant that the discovery was not detected until recently.
Burt Kaliski, chief scientist at RSA Laboratories, said: "We appreciate the persistence of Distributed.net and the many individuals involved in completing the search for this one key.
