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I.D.E.A. Mystery Cache

Hidden : 3/14/2024
Difficulty:
4 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:


As you should have learned from the nearby D.E.S. Cache, Online encryption was not evolving as fast as it would without export restrictions.

a 128 Bit encryption is available in the US, but it could not be exported, causing a major incompatibility in world online encryption. Thus is born I.D.E.A. the International Data Encryption Algorithm. While it is illegal to export 128 bit encryption, it could be imported. So browser makers took to offshore development and deployment of I.D.E.A. based browsers, that anyone in the world could download. 

In cryptography, the International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA), originally called Improved Proposed Encryption Standard (IPES), is a symmetric-key block cipher and was first described in 1991. The algorithm was intended as a replacement for the Data Encryption Standard (DES). IDEA is a minor revision of an earlier cipher, the Proposed Encryption Standard (PES).

 The cipher was patented in a number of countries but was freely available for non-commercial use. The name "IDEA" is also a trademark. The last patents expired in 2012, and IDEA is now patent-free and thus completely free for all uses.

IDEA was used in Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) v2.0 and was incorporated after the original cipher used in v1.0, BassOmatic, was found to be insecure. IDEA is an optional algorithm in the OpenPGP standard.

the 128 bit nature of IDEA gives 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 (39 digits long) possible keys. a 128 bit key can be represented by a 32 digit long hexdecimal number. It would take an estimated 1 billion years to try every key. In other words... You ain't gonna brute force this puzzle!

Fear not though, the key you need to solve this puzzle is on this page, and I assure you.. It is Globally Unique.

here's a link to the encoder/decoder we used: https://encode-decode.com/idea-encrypt-online/

 

 

evs8ExR2A9k4cgNXTbILSgIZBgqJJxSN2RGZg/9BONEATSDpbYfa5URzx3OBjo392kqb6lxkgEj39qjsEUjppRXoyckhGK72rtUg3ZUxL5qaFpfZRAqXBw==

 

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