Re: Re: Encryption and advancement of AI and even more tools to come.

On 5/30/26 2:55 AM, Nuno Silva wrote:
> On 2026-05-29, Dale wrote:
>
>> Howdy,
>>
>> I was reading a article where people "think" about things to come but
>> that are coming as a general rule.  It's a matter more of when than if
>> I think.  I have to say, I've read this in other places as well in the
>> past.  I do think it is getting closer.  Since most of us are
>> concerned about the security of our info, I'm wondering what others
>> think and what the corrective measures will be, if they are known.
>>
>> The topic, encryption.  Whether it is file system or the encryption
>> used between say a user and their bank or other secure data methods
>> both for personal info as well as Govt data like for militarys and
>> such.  Will AI, or future advances in computers not to far off,
>> eventually make encryption really hard to keep secure and as a bonus,
>> will data encrypted but stored somewhere, be crackable later with
>> those advancements?  One of the things the article pointed out is that
>> some Govts are storing encrypted data with the hope of decrypting it
>> later, either for intel or for some sort of investigation they are
>> doing.
>>
>> This is one of those topics that there is likely no wrong answer,
>> except for it will never happen.  I'm sure opinions on this will
>> vary.  Heck, mine varies.  With the coming AI build up, what effect
>> will that have if any?  Will future computer systems, that use MUCH
>> faster technology than what we have today, be the breaking point? Will
>> it be a combination of both?
> Speed may have its impact in what is crackable in a given time, and
> AFAIK that has been taken into account for years now, with
> recommendations increasing for e.g. key sizes.
>
> Also AFAIK what could change the landscape is if new computing methods
> ("quantum computing" comes to mind) significantly change the ways in
> which such cracking can happen, but wasn't some of that already being
> taken into consideration?
>
> GenAI in itself can do nothing, it's actually a quite dumb technology
> for this, you could perhaps use it to guide brute-force attacks if
> somebody did use predictable items, like passwords, but encryption
> itself relies on mathematical properties that go a bit further than
> "choose a good password".

Speaking of key sizes.  I'm thinking this is the number after the -s 
option on cryptsetup.  Mine is set to 512.  Is that high enough or 
should one think on using higher numbers, like 1024 or something? Is 
there a cost to higher numbers, requires more CPU or memory to perform 
the decryption?  Mostly just curious.

The article mentioned quantum computing as well.  I got the impression 
that that technology would likely be the biggest *possible* threat.  I'm 
not sure when that would be a option.  Maybe not in our lifetime.  Maybe 
next year.  I recall a thread many years ago on this list talking about 
the future of computing, may have been one I started.  Given that CPU 
clock speeds are about at their limit, the next advancement is most 
likely going to have to be something besides what we currently have.  As 
it is, faster code, more cores/threads and such is about all they got to 
increase computing power.  At least that is my understanding of it, of 
what I understand.  LOL

I don't really get what AI can do or can't do.  I know from reading some 
threads, on -dev for example, that it can't do as much as some people 
think.  At least not yet.  At this time tho, do we really know what it 
will be doing next year, or ten years from now??

>> I'm mostly curious because this affects us all.  I access my bank
>> online and pay bills online.  I also type in passwords and such as
>> well that I would not want just anyone to be able to see and use.  I
>> also have encrypted data stored locally here.  What do some of you who
>> keep up with this topic more than most think or are hearing through
>> the grapevine so to speak?  Is this getting closer real fast?  Is it
>> going to be a long time yet?
> Would it even be realistic to conceive LLMs producing ground-breaking
> results in the P v. NP question?

I remember seeing that on a TV series called Numb3rs.  Pretty neat show 
if you like to see how math could be used to figure out all sorts of 
things.  I might add, a lot of what is on that show, kinda works.  
Anyway, when I read the article, I thought of that show but didn't 
mention at first because no one else may have even heard of it.  Anyway, 
the math Professor would work on P vs NP at times.  I wanted to see if 
that was a real thing or made up so I did a little searching.  It is a 
real thing, yet to be solved it seems, that we know of anyway.  The 
solution could be in a locked box guarded by a few military folks with a 
real bad attitude somewhere, country unknown.  It talked about, as did 
my research, that being used to crack encryption.

That then lead me to think there could be two things used to make 
encryption no longer possible.  Things roll downhill from there.  I 
wonder what would happen if there was quantum computers and the solution 
to P vs NP was solved at about the same time??  Oh dear.


>> Just looking for some thoughts on this.  Again, no wrong answer
>> really.  It's just a thread that some may want to read and then sort
>> of add up the thoughts and ideas.
>>
>> Dale
>>
>> :-)  :-)

I wasn't going to share this but what the heck.  Why not.  This is what 
got me to thinking on this.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/05/the_cyber_apocalypse_nobody_s_ready_for_why_q_day_changes_everything.html

I've read most of it but some is over my head.  I don't track some of 
this stuff like some do because of work and such.  I mostly cut up 
trees, grow a garden and such.  There's what people dream up and then 
there is what we can really do.  That said, sometimes what a person 
dreams up may not be possible today but is decades later.  It just makes 
me think about how much we depend on a tool that most likely none of us 
really understand.  If we were to lose that tool, it could have 
consequences most of us never dreamed of.  My first thought, just 
accessing my bank's website.  Then I wondered, does my bank maybe 
encrypt other things as well that I have no knowledge of??  What about 
other things I've yet to even think about??

I try to compare it to like if crude oil disappeared in a instant, like 
out of some Sci-Fi show or something.  It would be a huge loss of energy 
and would cripple almost all of modern civilization.  Even something as 
simple as the loss of plastics would be a huge change. Plastics are used 
everywhere.  A lot of fuels come from that as well.  To lose it all of a 
sudden would be a disaster.  Another thought, losing magnetic fields.  
Most, if not all, power devices would stop working.  Every computer out 
there has a power supply that has a little transformer in it.  No 
transformer, no power. Computer is dead.  Car, has to have a starter to 
crank it up.  Then there is that coil that makes the plugs fire.  Even a 
diesel has to be started and some can't be started by hand because the 
engines are so big.  Once a person starts down the rabbit hole, it gets 
deep and far reaching.

It's amazing how our lives depend on some things that if lost, we would 
be in bad shape in a hurry.  A lot of these things, we can't really 
control either.

Anyway, good to get a couple thoughts on this.  Maybe some more will 
chime in.  :-D

Dale

:-)  :-)