Long Key Performance

[Gordon Worley]

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Anonymous <anonymous at anonymizer.com>
> To: <gnupg-devel at gnupg.org>
> Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2002 2:28 PM
> Subject: Re: Long Key Performance
>
>
>
>> The goal is not to be secure for the next 18 months.  The goal is to
>> keep mail private for all time.

This is a poor goal choice.  As it stands, you can't expect to make 
something secure forever.  Eventually, even if it takes 5 million years 
or more, someone will be able to simply brute force whatever security 
method you put on something.  Keeping something secure forever would 
require a whole new kind of cryptography scheme.  For now, you just have 
to decide how long you'd like to keep something secure.  Maybe for you 
that's 200 years?  For me, in most cases, it's several months to a few 
years.  You have to make this decision for yourself.  Again, if you need 
more than several years, I think it's safe to say that your security 
needs exceed those of general users and you should consider a custom 
solution.

--
Gordon Worley                     `When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty
http://www.rbisland.cx/            said, `it means just what I choose
redbird at rbisland.cx                it to mean--neither more nor less.'
PGP:  0xBBD3B003                                  --Lewis Carroll