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Password question

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Password question
Post by Michae   » Mon Aug 26, 2019 2:06 pm

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I've been re-reading Through Fiery Trials and I was wondering if it'd be possible to brute force whatever the password it to the 16 petabyte file that holds all the answers,either without electricity,or with it at some future point,using a high-speed computer to crack the password.
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Re: Password question
Post by Joat42   » Mon Aug 26, 2019 2:38 pm

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Michae wrote:I've been re-reading Through Fiery Trials and I was wondering if it'd be possible to brute force whatever the password it to the 16 petabyte file that holds all the answers,either without electricity,or with it at some future point,using a high-speed computer to crack the password.

The short answer is no.

The longer answer is that to be able to even try to crack it they need to read the encrypted file first which they can't since trying to access it without a password will wipe the memory.

---
Jack of all trades and destructive tinkerer.


Anyone who have simple solutions for complex problems is a fool.
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Re: Password question
Post by Weird Harold   » Mon Aug 26, 2019 2:55 pm

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Michae wrote:I've been re-reading Through Fiery Trials and I was wondering if it'd be possible to brute force whatever the password it to the 16 petabyte file that holds all the answers,either without electricity,or with it at some future point,using a high-speed computer to crack the password.


Since it explicitly stated that the file would be erased if brute force was tried (and failed) it is unlikely to be tried except as a last resort.
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Answers! I got lots of answers!

(Now if I could just find the right questions.)
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Re: Password question
Post by Dilandu   » Tue Aug 27, 2019 1:29 pm

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Michae wrote:I've been re-reading Through Fiery Trials and I was wondering if it'd be possible to brute force whatever the password it to the 16 petabyte file that holds all the answers,either without electricity,or with it at some future point,using a high-speed computer to crack the password.


A password of only 4 decimal digits would gave you 10000 possible combinations.

A password of 10 decimal digits would gave you 10000000000 combinations.

Considering that password could involve more than digits, and counting just English alphabet (26 letters) and decimal digits we could have a 10-symbol long password with 3656158440062980 combinations.

And we didn't even knew, how exactly the password is composed. It may be any combination of symbols & digits from absolutely any language. For example, let's assume that we have 100-letters long password composed of English (26), Russian (33) and Norway alphabet (29) and 10 decimal digits, counting empty space & a dot. It would be about -

1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
000000000000000000000000000

- combinations.

If you could do a hundred quintillions tries per second, it would took you just about -

3170979198376460000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
000000000000000000000000000000000000

- BILLIONS YEARS, to try them all.

In short: to break the good machine-made password with brute force, you would need more time than Universe existence.
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Oh well, if shortening the front is what the Germans crave,
Let's shorten it to very end - the length of Fuhrer's grave.

(Red Army lyrics from 1945)
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Re: Password question
Post by thanatos   » Wed Aug 28, 2019 5:35 pm

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And that also assumes that there isn't some sort of hardware fail-safe, one that allows access to the file from only one access point or location (such as say the temple or the terminal mentioned in the "Vision of Schueler".
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Re: Password question
Post by fallsfromtrees   » Fri Aug 30, 2019 2:23 am

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Dilandu wrote:
Michae wrote:I've been re-reading Through Fiery Trials and I was wondering if it'd be possible to brute force whatever the password it to the 16 petabyte file that holds all the answers,either without electricity,or with it at some future point,using a high-speed computer to crack the password.


A password of only 4 decimal digits would gave you 10000 possible combinations.

A password of 10 decimal digits would gave you 10000000000 combinations.

Considering that password could involve more than digits, and counting just English alphabet (26 letters) and decimal digits we could have a 10-symbol long password with 3656158440062980 combinations.

And we didn't even knew, how exactly the password is composed. It may be any combination of symbols & digits from absolutely any language. For example, let's assume that we have 100-letters long password composed of English (26), Russian (33) and Norway alphabet (29) and 10 decimal digits, counting empty space & a dot. It would be about -

1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
000000000000000000000000000

- combinations.

If you could do a hundred quintillions tries per second, it would took you just about -

3170979198376460000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
000000000000000000000000000000000000

- BILLIONS YEARS, to try them all.

In short: to break the good machine-made password with brute force, you would need more time than Universe existence.

Assuming you don't have access to a quantum computer - in which case the numbers come down considerably.
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The only problem with quotes on the internet is that you can't authenticate them -- Abraham Lincoln
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Re: Password question
Post by Dilandu   » Fri Aug 30, 2019 3:18 am

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fallsfromtrees wrote:Assuming you don't have access to a quantum computer - in which case the numbers come down considerably.


Well, how many tries per second the quantum computer could made?
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Oh well, if shortening the front is what the Germans crave,
Let's shorten it to very end - the length of Fuhrer's grave.

(Red Army lyrics from 1945)
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Re: Password question
Post by Weird Harold   » Fri Aug 30, 2019 5:18 am

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fallsfromtrees wrote:Assuming you don't have access to a quantum computer - in which case the numbers come down considerably.


If the device melts down after the third try, the computer's capacity means nothing.
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Answers! I got lots of answers!

(Now if I could just find the right questions.)
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Re: Password question
Post by Theemile   » Fri Aug 30, 2019 9:39 am

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Weird Harold wrote:
fallsfromtrees wrote:Assuming you don't have access to a quantum computer - in which case the numbers come down considerably.


If the device melts down after the third try, the computer's capacity means nothing.


has anyone tried 1 2 3 4 5 6?

{someone remind me to change the passcode on my luggage...}
******
RFC said "refitting a Beowulfan SD to Manticoran standards would be just as difficult as refitting a standard SLN SD to those standards. In other words, it would be cheaper and faster to build new ships."
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Re: Password question
Post by Undercover Fat Kid   » Fri Aug 30, 2019 11:13 am

Undercover Fat Kid
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Posts: 207
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Theemile wrote:
has anyone tried 1 2 3 4 5 6?

{someone remind me to change the passcode on my luggage...}


Just as soon as I finish changing the passcode on mine....
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Death is as a feather,
Duty is as a mountain
This life is a dream
From which we all
Must wake
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