I just finished reading Simon Singh’s The Code Book, and I got the impression that PGP was basically uncrackable, and more or less always will be. However, the book was written 20 years ago, so, is this still true?
In: Technology
PGP was never perfect encryption, it was never meant to be. PGP even stands for “Pretty Good Privacy” and is wayyyy better than unencrypted emails but nothing except a properly used One Time Pad is “uncrackable”
PGP relies on the same stuff as HTTPS/SSL by using public/private key pairs. These key pairs are longggg so they’re hard to crack, hard enough to ensure no casual script kiddy can do it. Modern systems are using 2048 bit or 4096 bit long keys which would take years even with the NSA or similar working on it, but 1024 bit and below keys are definitely crackable by any nation state, and 512 bit keys could be done on AWS in an afternoon which is why we use extra long keys now
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