Originally Posted by
Globaliser
As I understand it, some readily-available encryption can definitely be broken by an outsider - if you happen to have computers bigger than the known universe and more time than the universe has existed so far.
What your thought overlooks is that encryption algorithms are invented by the human mind. Computers are not capable of running routines beyond the instructions the authors are capable of giving. Further, encryption is, let us say, a lock on data. It requires a key to open. It's a cliche but true, that any lock a human mind can design can be picked by a mind of equal or superior intellect.
The size of a computer is meaningless. The fastest, most powerful, accurate, self-maintaining, self-replicating and energy efficient computer known of today is DNA. It's small. And the results of its computations are complex, indeed. And yes, molecular geneticists measure data computed by DNA in Kbs.
The fact of the matter is that true security is created by looking carefully not only at the area or data being secured but also at the human beings engaged in the security, passing through the supposedly secure space or handling the supposedly secure data. This is called profiling. It is quite out of fashion. And thus we look to the data and not to the protein.