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Thread: "Code that can't be cracked" -- Toronto Star, January 19th 2004

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    Just a Virtualized Geek MrLinus's Avatar
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    "Code that can't be cracked" -- Toronto Star, January 19th 2004

    Well, so they claim. If you do crack it, you get a cool $1 Million CDN and a job. Full Article here

    Want to win a million bucks and a high-paying job for life?

    That's what Mississauga-based Certicom Corp. is offering anyone who can crack the code to its products and patents surrounding Elliptic Curve Cryptology (ECC) — a combination of algebra and algorithms that ensure everything from cellphone chatter to wireless e-mail sent and received on an Internet-enabled phone or a Blackberry PDA can't be hacked.

    The math is complex, the technology used to apply it confounding. But its aim is simple. It is to give access only to those entitled to it — from mom using a cellphone to stay in touch with kids to military scientists using a computer network and determined to keep their secrets."Our technology is based on a very difficult mathematical problem, so we're challenging people to solve the mathematical problem," said Scott Vanstone, a professor of math and computer science at the University of Waterloo and Certicom's founder, explaining the $1 million challenge.

    "That's why we're comfortable having our technology incorporated into mission-critical systems."
    So, think you're up to the challenge?
    Goodbye, Mittens (1992-2008). My pillow will be cold without your purring beside my head
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    Now, RFC Compliant! Noia's Avatar
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    /me starts building a wolf cluster out of scrap parts....like toasters.
    With all the subtlety of an artillery barrage / Follow blindly, for the true path is sketchy at best. .:Bring OS X to x86!:.
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    Purveyor of Lather Syini666's Avatar
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    Has any security system or encryption ever remained secure after the parent company issues such a challenge to the world? It seems every time someone makes a statement like this, it is invariably proven wrong in a few months or years. I wonder what MIT student will pull it off?
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    they must be confident, I wounder if theres a claus in the contract that no goverment organisations with kick ass amounts off gigaflops can claim the money,

    anyway im gonna put my uni work on the back burner and make myself a million,

    infact im gonna crack it in my head,

    i2c

  5. #5
    Originally posted here by Syini666
    Has any security system or encryption ever remained secure after the parent company issues such a challenge to the world? It seems every time someone makes a statement like this, it is invariably proven wrong in a few months or years. I wonder what MIT student will pull it off?

    I agree - inviting people to a challenge like this will only lead to the breaking of the code at some point - it may not be tomorrow, next week, or next year, but it will be broken... I always look at security like this - if someone wants something bad enough, they'll find a way... I think that it's foolish to say you've got an unbreakable app, uncrackable code, hack-proof system, etc.

    Maybe I'm thinking of something else but didn't Oracle try this a while back? Wasn't long defenses were broken I believe....

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    As for cracking the code, don't start spending the money yet. One team headed by a group of mathematicians at Notre Dame University did manage to crack one of the lower-end "keys" that keep ECC communications secure. It took 10,000 computers running 24 hours a day for a year and a half to do it.
    Appears to me their claims are a bit ambiguous.
    No one can crack our code they say.
    But wait this group from Notre Dame University did it.
    Am I confused or did they just contradict themselves?
    nuff said.

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    "Easy" come, "Easy" go

    nothing is stabil in this life, so we will w8 and se if some will do it...
    or some of us(people) have alredy did it?

    hehe
    // too far away outside of limit

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    I'd rather be fishing DjM's Avatar
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    Originally posted here by Maverick811
    Maybe I'm thinking of something else but didn't Oracle try this a while back? Wasn't long defenses were broken I believe....
    Your right Oracle did try and make this claim:

    Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, recently revealed a phenomenal aspect of the Oracle architecture that is unique in the world: It is unbreakable! During his keynote address at Comdex, Ellison told the audience that they could "keep their Microsoft Outlook, and we will make it unbreakable; and unbreakable means you can't break it, and you can't break in."
    You know the funny thing about this is, when I was trying to find information on Oracle's claim, I had to scroll through 26 pages of posted vulnerabilities on Oracle, now how's that for an "unbreakable" system.

    Cheers:
    DjM

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    A much smaller 224-bit ECC key offers the same level of encryption as 2048-bit key in the competing RSA format
    That is something special if that is true.

    And F*** a bunch of big clusters, I'm going to go find me a couple of savants.

    (edit)

    oh by the way

    http://www.certicom.com/download/aid..._challenge.pdf

    Complete rules, info, and they even give you their formulas. Cocky little bastards.
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    Just A Matter Of Time!!!!
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