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In reply to the discussion: Signaling Post-Snowden Era, New iPhone Locks Out N.S.A. [View all]defacto7
(13,485 posts)is way over rated. The only algorithms that are truly exceptional are illegal. There are several good crypts but they're well known.
When they say a 6 character password, that is when the bull shit flag goes up. If you use AES256 with 4096 bit encryption which is quite a strong common routine and you have less than a 10 character pass-code made up of words it would take maybe a couple minutes to decode with an excellent device and the right software. If you use a 10 character pass with upper and lower case, numbers and one non-alphanumeric character and no words, it would probably take 2 to 5 years to decode. 11 characters - about 350 years..., 12 characters - thousands of years... 13 characters... probably longer than the age of the known universe with todays technology. These are pretty safe guesses, they are not actual. Technology changes too fast for accurate figures of this nature but the scenario is not getting harder than this, it's getting easier.
The thing to take from this is that passwords of less than 12 characters using the above character form are vulnerable. It would take considerably less time with a supercomputer....
but 6 characters? my ass.