4 Nov
2011
4 Nov
'11
3:46 p.m.
On 11/04/2011 01:39 AM, Jon Callas wrote:
It's certainly laudable to worry about TLAs with ASICs. They probably can't break 80-bit crypto yet, but that's why you need to get off of it now.
On the other hand, no TLA worth their salt is buying ASICs to crack crypto. They are buying zero-day kernel 'sploits. That's how the Germans are beating Skype. Keep that in perspective. The half life of an ASIC is 18 months. Zero-days are much more effective and much cheaper.
I think this does not follow. Just because they are buying 0-days doesn't mean that they are not also buying ASICs (or at least FPGAs). My guess is that there are some adversaries with more money for cybershenanigans than they know what to do with right now.
- Marsh