History Main / HollywoodEncryption

Unfortunately for [[WritersCannotDoMath those who studied literature hoping to never, ever see a single number ever again]], crypto is also one of the hardest sciences in the world, drawing from fields as abstract and diverse as number theory, mathematical logic, information theory and data structures. And ciphers are just the tip of the iceberg -- there are also associated algorithms such as cryptographic hashes, pseudorandom number generators, public key algorithms, and cryptosystems like SSL, PGP, [=NaCl=], SSH, IPsec or dm-crypt that tie them all together into something useful. Needless to say, this means any research in the subject done for pretty much any purpose needs to be ''very'' accurate, or else the fictional cryptosystem will be a total and utter piece of garbage and the cryptanalysis process will be basically black magic.

* In one episode of ''Series/AgentCarter'', Carter manages to decrypt a one-time pad ''in her head''. This was at the tail end of a period where the Russians ''were'' using breakable one-time pads [[note:During WWII, the Russians were forced to reuse some of their pads, which rendered them vulnerable to cryptanalysis]], it seems highly unlikely that she would have memorized 35,000 pages of sheer gibberish on the off chance that she might encounter a message encrypted by one of them, especially since the Russians had long since figured out that the VENONA pads were vulnerable and were replacing them with newer and more secure pads as quickly as they could.

** Actually most modern digital encryption is resistant to brute forcing, in that it's theoretically possible to do it, but would likely take an impossibly long time, possibly billions of years, assuming you dedicate all of the worlds computing power to brute forcing that one key. (Estimates of those "billions of years", though, usually [[TechMarchesOn don't adjust for future hardware upgrades]].)

Unfortunately for [[WritersCannotDoMath those who studied literature hoping to never, ever see a single number ever again]], crypto is also one of the hardest sciences in the world, drawing from fields as abstract and diverse as number theory, mathematical logic, information theory and data structures. And ciphers are just the tip of the iceberg -- there are also associated algorithms such as cryptographic hashes, pseudorandom number generators, public key algorithms, and cryptosystems like SSL, PGP, [=NaCl=], SSH, IPsec or dm-crypt that tie them all together into something useful. Needless to say, this means any research in the subject done for pretty much any purpose needs to be ''very'' accurate. And well... this means that when the executives are asking a writer to deliver a manuscript in record time about a story that delves into such a hard topic and failure is not a choice, the only thing the writer can do is reducing crypto to some kind of obscure character shifting and scrambling, describing it through some kind of TechnoBabble, or spewing some vague stuff about "hacking" the "cipher" or something like that.

* ''AngelBeats'' has a borderline example of this. Angel's personal computer is secured with "128-bit DES" which is hacked through without any trouble. While DES is an encryption standard infamous for being insecure, that's because its 56 bit key was very short for today's standards; the actual algorithm itself is very solid even by modern standards. To alleviate this problem while the current AES algorithm was developed, an extended version of DES was published in 1998 that simply used three DES keys with three full rounds of DES to achieve a total key length of 168 bits -- meaning that Angel's 128-bit DES encryption is basically a non-standard DES that could possibly have unforeseen security holes that could have been exploited by the attackers.

Unfortunately for [[WritersCannotDoMath those who studied literature hoping to never, ever see a single number ever again]], crypto is also one of the hardest sciences in the world, drawing from fields as abstract and esoteric as number theory, mathematical logic, information theory and data structures. And ciphers are just the tip of the iceberg -- there are also associated algorithms such as cryptographic hashes, pseudorandom number generators, public key algorithms, and cryptosystems like SSL, PGP, [=NaCl=], SSH, IPsec or dm-crypt that tie them all together into something useful. Needless to say, this means any research in the subject done for pretty much any purpose needs to be ''very'' accurate. And well... this means that when the executives are asking a writer to deliver a manuscript in record time about a story that delves into such a hard topic and failure is not a choice, the only thing the writer can do is reducing crypto to some kind of obscure character shifting and scrambling, describing it through some kind of TechnoBabble, or spewing some vague stuff about "hacking" the "cipher" or something like that.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* Averted in ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}''. The eponymous [[{{Nanite}} Nanotech]] cyborg can hack her way through a lot of low-security doors, but some doors are just too securely encrypted for her to ever hope to open.

* Averted thoroughly in ''{{Sneakers}}''. While the MacGuffin is entirely fictional, if something did what it could do, it would be able to slice through virtually any modern encryption. The description of how cryptology works is dead-on accurate -- Len Adelman, cocreator of RSA (public-key) encryption, consulted on the movie. The [[ViewerFriendlyInterface visual representation]], on the other hand, is baloney.

* ''TheSarahConnorChronicles'': Of course can John break the encryption of Sarkissian's hdd.

Unfortunately for [[WritersCannotDoMath those who studied literature hoping to never, ever see a single number ever again]], crypto is also one of the hardest sciences in the world, drawing from fields as abstract and esoteric as number theory, mathematical logic, information theory and data structures. And ciphers are just the tip of the iceberg -- there are also associated algorithms such as cryptographic hashes, pseudorandom number generators, public key algorithms, and cryptosystems like SSL, PGP, [=NaCl=], SSH or dm-crypt that tie them all together into something useful. Needless to say, this means any research in the subject done for pretty much any purpose needs to be ''very'' accurate. And well... this means that when the executives are asking a writer to deliver a manuscript in record time about a story that delves into such a hard topic and failure is not a choice, the only thing the writer can do is reducing crypto to some kind of obscure character shifting and scrambling, describing it through some kind of TechnoBabble, or spewing some vague stuff about "hacking" the "cipher" or something like that.

Unfortunately for [[WritersCannotDoMath those who studied literature hoping to never, ever see a single number ever again]], crypto is also one of the hardest sciences in the world, drawing from fields as abstract and esoteric as number theory, mathematical logic, information theory and data structures. And ciphers are just the tip of the iceberg -- there are also associated algorithms such as cryptographic hashes, pseudorandom number generators, public key algorithms, and cryptosystems like SSL, PGP, [=NaCl=], SSH or dm-crypt that tie them all together into something useful. Needless to say, this means any research in the subject done for pretty much any purpose needs to be ''very'' accurate. And well... when your executives are asking a writer to deliver a manuscript in record time, the only thing the writer can do is reducing crypto to some kind of obscure character shifting and scrambling, describing it through some kind of TechnoBabble, or spewing some vague stuff about "hacking" the "cipher" or something like that.

* ''AngelBeats'' has a borderline example of this. Angel's personal computer is secured with "128-bit DES" which is hacked through without any trouble. While DES is an encryption standard infamous for being insecure, that's because its 56 bit key was very short for today's standards; the actual algorithm itself is very solid even by modern standards. To alleviate this problem while a new algorithm was developed, an extended version of DES was published in 1998 that simply used three DES keys with three full rounds of DES to achieve a total key length of 168 bits -- meaning that Angel's 128-bit DES encryption is basically a non-standard DES that could possibly have unforeseen security holes that could have been exploited by the attackers.

* ''AngelBeats'' has a borderline example of this. Angel's personal computer is secured with "128-bit DES" which is hacked through without any trouble. While DES is an encryption standard infamous for being insecure, that's because of how short its key is. A version of DES that had an 128-bit key would be impossible to break with any conceivable technology. Certainly not in a few minutes with a laptop.

Unfortunately for [[WritersCannotDoMath those who studied literature hoping to never, ever see a single number ever again]], crypto is also one of the hardest sciences in the world, drawing from fields as abstract and esoteric as number theory, mathematical logic, information theory and data structures. And ciphers are just the tip of the iceberg -- there are also associated algorithms such as cryptographic hashes, pseudorandom number generators, public key algorithms, and all the cryptosystems that tie them all together into something useful. Needless to say, this means any research in the subject done for pretty much any purpose needs to be ''very'' accurate. And well... when your executives are asking a writer to deliver a manuscript in record time, the only thing the writer can do is reducing crypto to some kind of obscure character shifting and scrambling, describing it through some kind of TechnoBabble, or spewing some vague stuff about "hacking" the "cipher" or something like that.

Unfortunately for [[WritersCannotDoMath those who studied literature hoping to never, ever see a single number ever again]], crypto is also one of the hardest sciences in the world, drawing from fields as abstract and esoteric as number theory, mathematical logic, information theory and data structures. And ciphers are just the tip of the iceberg -- there are also associated algorithms such as cryptographic hashes, pseudorandom number generators, public key algorithms, and all the cryptosystems that tie them all together into something useful. Needless to say, this means any research in the subject done for pretty much any purpose needs to be ''very'' accurate. And well... when your executives are asking you to deliver a manuscript in record time, the only thing you can do is depict it as some kind of obscure character shifting, describe it through some kind of TechnoBabble, or some vague stuff about "hacking" the "cipher" or something like that.

* ''AngelBeats'' has an example of this. Angel's personal computer is secured with "128-bit DES" which is hacked through without any trouble. While DES is an encryption standard infamous for being insecure, that's because of how short its key is. A version of DES that had an 128-bit key would be impossible to break with any conceivable technology. Certainly not in a few minutes with a laptop.

* Averted thoroughly in ''{{Sneakers}}''. While the MacGuffin is entirely fictional, if something did what it could do, it would be able to slice through virtually any modern encryption. The description of how cryptology works is dead-on accurate -- Len Adelman, cocreator of RSA (public-key) encryption, consulted on the movie. The [[ViewerFriendlyInterface visual representation]], on the other hand, is baloney.

* Averting it is pretty much the entire point of Neal Stephenson's ''Literature/{{Cryptonomicon}}'', where Lawrence Waterhouse shows us how the German Enigma machines worked and how Bletchley Park worked day after day cracking their codes, whereas Randy Waterhouse shows us in the first few pages how ''proper'' encryption is done, all of that while rattling scientifically accurate lectures about information theory. Need anything more? Well, Neal Stephenson asked Bruce Schneier to create a 100% functional encryption algorithm, called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solitaire_cipher Solitaire]], which can be implemented on the field with playing cards, ''and the books include a working Perl script that implements the algorithm.''

* Safely averted in ''Literature/{{Reamde}}''. The encrypted file on Wallace's hard drive has a ".gpg" file extension. GPG is a real-world program, the GNU Privacy Guard, that implements an encryption alogrithm ([=OpenPGP=]) that would work exactly as described. That said, there's nothing about GPG that requires a three-letter ".gpg" file extension as it instead embeds GPG/PGP header information in the file itself. GPG'd files can have any extension the user wants and GPG will still be able to identify and decrypt them by checking for the PGP header block in the file. Stephenson likely used a .gpg file extension because it was quicker and less awkward than explaining the details of GPG's functionality, and worked just as well as a shout-out for cryptogeek readers and wouldn't have made much difference anyway for those who didn't know what he was talking about in the first place.

Modern cryptography can be what protects the citizens against TheMan. It can be the difference between losing a war or winning it, the difference between making millions of dollars off a new invention or letting the competition find out, overtake you and win all the money you could have made. It can be what keeps your PornStash safe from Mom's prying eyes. It's the only barrier that separates data crackers and your bank account's details, and it can be the base of communication within an AncientConspiracy or a shadowy criminal organization.

Unfortunately for [[WritersCannotDoMath those who studied literature hoping to never meet a single number ever again]], cryptography is also one of the hardest sciences in the world, drawing from fields as abstract and esoteric as number theory, mathematical logic, information theory and data structures. Needless to say, this means research in the subject needs to be ''very'' accurate. So when your executives are demanding that you deliver a manuscript in record time, the only thing you can do is depict it as some kind of character shifting or describe it through some kind of TechnoBabble.

See also HollywoodHacking. See [[UsefulNotes/{{Encryption}} Useful Notes: Encryption]] for a description of the real thing.

** Actually most modern digital encryption is resistant to brute forcing, in that it's theoretically possible to do it, but would likely take an impossibly long time, possibly billions of years, assuming you dedicate all of the worlds computing power to brute forcing that one key.

** There does, however, exist an encryption method, the one-time pad, that is immune to brute force, and unbreakable if carried out correctly (doing so, however, is often logistically prohibitive as the key must be at least as large as the message). It's immune to brute force because with different keys you can get every possible message that has the same length as the one being sent, with no indication whatsoever of which possible decryption is the right one.

** There does, however, exist an encryption method, the one-time pad, that is immune to brute force, and unbreakable if carried out correctly (doing so, however, is often logistically prohibitive). It's immune to brute force because with different keys you can get every possible message that has the same length as the one being sent, with no indication whatsoever of which possible decryption is the right one.

* ''StargateAtlantis'': Multiple times. Janus' lab pops up. He is meant to have his research encrypted with highly advanced encryption. It doesn't last long against the mind of TheSmartGuy.

* Willow of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fame can decrypt ''anything'', seriously, though admittedly the Initiative's most secretest files took her a few days.

See also HollywoodHacking. See [[UsefulNotes/{{Encryption}}Useful Notes: Encryption]] for a description of the real thing.

See also HollywoodHacking. See UsefulNotes/{{Encryption}} for a description of the real thing.

See also HollywoodHacking.