Editing 538: Security

{{comic
| number    = 538
| date      = February 2, 2009
| title     = Security
| image     = security.png
| titletext = Actual actual reality: nobody cares about his secrets. (Also, I would be hard-pressed to find that wrench for $5.)
}}

==Explanation==
The "crypto nerd" (short for cryptography in this case, not cryptocurrency, which was only invented a few months before this comic) would be concerned with strongly encrypting data on their personal machine. This would conceivably come in handy when "villains" attempt to steal information on his computer. The crypto nerd imagines that due to his advanced encryption, the crackers will be ultimately defeated. [[Randall]] suggests that in the real world, people with the desire to access this information would simply {{w|Rubber-hose cryptanalysis|use torture}} to coerce the nerd to give them the password. Both panels also reference the amount of money used to access the data. In the first the villain is willing to use millions of dollars to construct a {{w|TWIRL|super computer}} which may still not fulfill their aim, while in the second, he simply uses a $5 wrench and 'the personal touch'. The comic effectively states, completely accurately, that the weakest part of computer security is usually not the computer, but the user.

{{w|RSA (algorithm)|RSA}} is a commonly used public key encryption method. Current standards typically use 1024, 2048, and (more recently) 4096 {{w|Key size|bit keys}}. These encryption methods are not yet (feasibly) breakable. A 4096-bit key will remain unbreakable for the foreseeable future.

The title text pokes fun at typical users, who do not have data that would be worth anything to anyone but themselves. Therefore, it is unlikely that the above situation would ever occur. Additionally, the wrench used in the second panel is large, and presumably more than the $5 referenced by the thug.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is holding a laptop up in two hands, showing it to his Cueball-like friend who is examining it while holding a hand up to his head. Above the top of the panels frame, there is a box with a caption:]
:A Crypto nerd's imagination:
:Cueball: His laptop's encrypted. Let's build a million-dollar cluster to crack it.
:Friend: No good! It's 4096-bit RSA!
:Cueball: Blast! Our evil plan is foiled!

:[Cueball is holding a closed laptop down in one hand while giving his Cueball-like friend a wrench with the other. The friend reaches out for it. Above the top of the panels frame, there is a box with a caption:]
:What would actually happen:
:Cueball: His laptop's encrypted. Drug him and hit him with this $5 wrench until he tells us the password.
:Friend : Got it.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Cryptography]]