Ask HN: Is encryption safe enough to publish encrypted copy of private data

3 pointsyazriel10y ago3 comments

If we have private data, encrypted using best practices (salted, 2048bit keys, private keys stored off line, etc), is it considered safe to post this encrypted data in a publicly accessible location?

Imagine if everyone encrypted and published a tarball of their email history. Would this data be considered "vulnerable" to attacks ?

3 comments

byoung210y ago

Any form of encryption can be cracked eventually, given enough time and processing power. What if a new type of supercomputer is invented tomorrow that can crack 2048 bit in minutes? Not publishing your data would give you the opportunity to re-encrypt using the latest method.

LinuxBender10y ago

One must assume encrypted content will not be safe in the future. I would also be leery of anything that says "perfect". e.g. Perfect Forward Secrecy. In the future, we may be making fun of that.

yazrielOP10y ago

I am more worried about the obvious attack of sending a person a large known plaintext, and then using this to decrypt his tarball.

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