Re: Cracking Strings from URLs

Rich <[email protected]> wrote:
> Computer Nerd Kev <[email protected]> wrote:
>> But it's base64 encoded, so if you don't know that, then multiply
>> that number by the number of different possible byte/character
>> encodings you'd have to try as well. If there isn't a smarter
>> approach.
> 
> Any cryptographer worthy of that label *should* recognize base64 on 
> sight.  Really, any half decent programmer, esp. any half decent 
> programmer on Linux/Unix systems, should recognize base64 and uuencode 
> output immediately on sight, given how commonly both were used on Unix 
> systems.

Well I've seen plenty of base64 encoded data, I take it I should
have noticed some clue that distinguishes it from other strings of
apparantly-random ASCII characters? Certainly it occurred to me to
try to base64 decode that string, which just got me the encrypted
bytes, and so no indication whether it was something base64 encoded
after encryption or not, since the result wasn't any more
intelligible. Since base64 doesn't have a fixed start/end string I
don't know what it is you imply hints that the string _must_ have
been base64 encoded when it doesn't decode to known-good output.

My whole point has been to find software that will try to crack the
encryption whether or not it has been encoded afterwards, as
base64, or another scheme. Playing the guessing game myself might
be of relative amusement to me if I'm ever stuck in prison cell for
life, but otherwise it's not something I want to waste much time
on. I wanted something that tries to crack the string with/without
base64 encoding, and then with any of the other many possible
encodings in decreasing order of likelihood:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Binary-to-text_encoding_formats

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