DiabloFans

Quote from overneathe

One thing I've always wondered being a complete tool when it comes to math. When you start decrypting... I understand it's a very small chance but, if a lot of people are trying, isn't there a small chance someone just hits the right combination of symbols right at the start? I mean, isn't it all just chance? Are decrypting programs random on trying out keys or do they go by some logic that they follow until the process is complete?

Like, do they start form 0000000000000000 and then 00000000000000001 and so on? Can they, for example, start with 948302893850328d93 and continue with something completely different and random? Heh, I know I'm a noob but at least I realize it.

Yes, it is in theory possible. And the way the algorithm is implemented is entirely different, but effectively the one you've stated is the simplest but most time consuming. You can do any order, but you need an algorithm to keep track of which numbers you've guessed already, and which ones to try in the future, so picking at random actually requires more of your computers resources, so just counting up is usually the way a brute force method is implemented.. at least as far as I know, but I'm not hacker, nor am I even really a programmer.

But we really need to put it in perspective here. Imagine going to the casino, sitting down to play poker 5 card stud, and drawing a royal flush in spades 10 times in a row. This scenario is highly probably, like close to 100%, compared to guessing the encryption key even within the first several billion guesses.

Quote from Designation15

Something else to think about is that if someone wants it bad enough they will try their hardest to get it. Since you like numbers let's throw some others around.

There's 60 days between now and D3 release.
60 days is 1440 hours.
Let's say there's 1000 people out there (probably grossly under exaggerated) trying to crack this thing.
1000 people x a possible 1440 hours = 1,440,000 hours possibly spent
1,440,000 hours = 60,000 days
60,000 days = ~164.5 years of possible work

I wouldn't be surprised if China has an army working on this thing right now to get a jump on the market.

You need somewhere around a billion trillion years of work to crack it. See my post earlier.

I for one am in favour of the new system.

Itemizing runes is a nightmare, for the developers and the players, and I see a lot of potential with the respect to customization with the way the system is implemented now. As well as creating slightly more incentive (as if I needed any) to fully level a character (all of them) to 60.

Quote from Biokon

Very good description, I'd just like to point out you screwed up on the math converting seconds to years though, I just did that calculation and the number came out to 2.79*10¹⁷ years. No big deal I just thought I'd mention for the sake of clarity, It's still a ludicrous amount of time.

Yep you're right. I accidentally multiplied by 365 instead of dividing, but I'll go ahead and blame wolfram anyway.

Now that I think about it I'm the idiot, since wolfram actually just has a seconds to year converter.

Quote from akainu

Well I don't live far from the Alabama super computer there is always that option if you can gain access.

That computer could not solve this problem.

I'll make this clear. A thousand of them could not solve this problem.

(In two months)

I blame all of you for this...

Let's say it's a 128 encryption, there are 2^128 possible keys. That's about 3 x 10^38 possibilities.

My computer runs 3.2GHz on 4 cores, say 12.8GHz of power. Mine isn't a super computer, so lets just make it one and say it can run a thousand times faster (gross exaggeration), at 13THz. That's 13 x 10^12 Hz. A hert is a cycle per second, so this unimaginably powerful computer can churn out 13 trillion operations per second.

On average this computer would go through about half the total possibilities before finding the right key, lets say. (this is a brute force attack, we could get clever with prime numbers, but it doesn't help much as you'll see..)

So at 13 trillion attempts per second, it would take 2.3 x 10^25 seconds to crack this code. That's 1 x 10^23 years. Or about one trillion trillion years. The estimated time since the big bang is 14 billion years.

Quote from choklitcow

I'm probably wrong, but generally when there is something this big and people want access to it, it ends up happening.

I'm not so sure about that generalization. This system is the equivalent to steam in terms of the way they can use the online requirement as a way to securely pass the encryption key at a time they choose. I've never seen a pre-download steam game cracked before the official release date, and I've definitely got a few.

Don't confuse this with some of these games being fully cracked for torrenting, that happens. That *isn't* unlocking it through steam, and since Diablo 3 does not use local files for world information, providing a 'offline crack' would require the hacker to create the game world themselves, and guess as to which monsters spawn where, which can only be done accurately after the games release.

In terms of fired employees... they were like call center people and stuff, not people who had access to sensitive information, that likely didn't even exist at the time they were laid off.

Quote from afkalmighty

Quote from Non_Inertial_Frame

Basically it's more likely that lightning strikes the Blizzard HQ, and that somehow magically unlocks everything.

so basically the same chance as me understanding what the f- quantum computing is huh?

It's really not as hard as people make it sound.

Quote from Laevus

I already part feel like I've spoilt some of the game story for myself by seeing spoilers in the form of previously data mined art, story predictions, the Act loading screens etc. I'm not going to chance ruining any potentially cool moments by looking at any datamined info if any does turn up.

If it looks like info starts getting leaked and mined and spread across fansites, then it's time for me to take a holiday from DFans until I've finished the game on normal.

It was nice to peak at more than the small stuff Blizz has let us see when we had no idea when we would be laying, now we have a release date, I can wait patiently.

Apparently people feel as though an encryption like this can slowly be cracked, if at all..

So I'll try to make this very clear. Short of having the encryption code, the only way to get *any* encrypted information whatsoever is to have the passkey, this key is probably 128 digits, could be more but I doubt it's necessary. Considering there are a variety of ways to actually use the encryption key, it is not a standard, we'd have to not only be brute forcing trying to guess keys, but we'd also be guessing the encryption type. One of the major advantages of quantum computation is being able to solve a problem exactly like this, and at this point we're still trying to figure out how we can even make a scalable model of quantum computers.

This problem is effectively unsolvable. I would say it is completely unsolvable, but it could be done, but the average time frame to crack a problem like this generally extends well beyond a few months, and in some cases literally is longer than the known age of the universe.

Basically it's more likely that lightning strikes the Blizzard HQ, and that somehow magically unlocks everything.

Quote from Halfdead14

Just use distributed computing to break it!

I'm not sure of the exact numbers but I think even then you're looking to wait anywhere from a few million years to the lifetime of the universe. A bit longer than 2 months.

Can't datamine data you can't decrypt, just garbled 1's and 0's.

I highly doubt anyone will crack the encryption, short of an enormous breakthrough in quantum computation that I am so far unaware of.

Sign of beta?!?!?!

Quote from jaclashflash

Quote from Non_Inertial_Frame

I don't get it. Are you calling those people stupid?
Immature? Maybe, but stupid? Maturity is not a good indicator of intelligence.

This is exactly how my friends and I talk to one another, this is when we aren't working on our homework for modern optics, quantum information theory or electromagnetic theory.

Yah in your little dorm room or maybe secluded in the library. But not out in public amongst other people.

I know nerds, hell I am a nerd, and I know this doesnt happen. At least, I have never seen it.

Sure? But we aren't in public where children might hear you, we are on the internet, what better place than to act immature, especially if other people in the game are on board, and no one is saying 'please stop it's offending me.'

I don't get it. Are you calling those people stupid?
Immature? Maybe, but stupid? Maturity is not a good indicator of intelligence.

This is exactly how my friends and I talk to one another, this is when we aren't working on our homework for modern optics, quantum information theory or electromagnetic theory.

I just logged in fine? Didn't try to play, just wanted to see if I could log on lol.