Data Encryption – How it Benefits you and me? (Part 3)

With common transactional data, 128 bit encryption is standard for it is estimated that it would take a couple of years for a computer that is fast enough to crack it. Take it a notch up, and you get a time frame goes up to a couple of decades or so till technology can get around to cracking the code easily. In 2002, the longest RC5 encrypted key to be ever broken took five years and that was only 64 bit RC5, imagine 128 and 256? 256 bits of information is roughly equal to the number of atoms in the whole universe which is why encryption at these levels conforms to use on sensitive government information. For you and me, 128 bit would be tough enough to secure our data for a couple of years for within that time frame a newer and better encryption standard may be in place to take up the cause.