THE VIDEO SHELF · cryptographic key space

How secure is 256 bit security?

3Blue1Brown illustrates how enormous the 256-bit search space is, showing how infeasible it is to find a hash or key by guessing and checking.

Why HN readers recommended it

HN uses it as the go-to illustration of just how large 2^256 is.

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I wondered the same thing, so I went looking for answers and found this excellent video by 3Blue1Brown: How secure is 256 bit security? : [VIDEO]
yamrzou on Hacker News · 2021-06
In DOJ seizes $2.3M in cryptocurrency paid to the ransomware extortionists Darkside
We know that life is evolvable because life exists and we know the biochemical mechanisms involved (DNA + cellular biochemistry). Evolution implies a relatively smooth path through "DNA space" from, say for example, an early single cell eukaryote to a mushroom. However the search space …
AareyBaba on Hacker News · 2020-01
In The most important scientific problems have yet to be solved (1897)
Large number comparisons are difficult for humans to comprehend. If you simplify life to a DNA strand 256 nucleotide long (for the sake of math comparison) - then the search space is 4^256. To comprehend how large a search space this is watch 3Blue1Brown's explanation …
AareyBaba on Hacker News · 2020-10
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