Let me break this down.
A 1024-bit key means there are 2^1024 possible combinations of keys/codes. That’s 1.797693e^308 possible permutations. So move that decimal point to the right over 300 places.
Now, with a 2.2 Ghz Xeon processor, that’s 2.2 billion processes per second which brings us down to 8.17133^e298 seconds to process the total number of possible codes. That’s 1.3618887^e297 minutes or 2.269814^e295 hours which is 9.45756^e293 days or 2.59111^e291 years. It would take longer than the history of the universe to decrypt it assuming the last key used is the one.
Okay, so to do this in anywhere near-term, you would have to have a QUANTUM computer that could do hundreds of quadrillions of cycles per second to even come close to cracking that in a short term. There aren’t enough computers on the planet to do that at present. Do you honestly believe they’re going to waste time trying to crack a TPM key to get into your computer to find out what porn your looking at?
The Federal Government is not going to allow a manufacturer to sell something they can’t hack. That is just a fact in 2013.
Maybe, if I was foolish enough to say what I really think about things.
With only brute force as an attack method, even 256 bit is likely forever impossible even with quantum.
However, there could always be backdoors and ‘cracks’ that make searching all permutations not necessary.
“Do you honestly believe they’re going to waste time trying to crack a TPM key to get into your computer to find out what porn your looking at?”
My understanding of the article is that the key is given to them so they do not have to crack it.
Unless, of course, there’s a designed in way for NSA (or the PLA) to get a copy of the key, in which case it takes them a couple milliseconds to retrieve a copy of your key and decrypt everything you send.
Do you understand the root process of encryption systems? The TPN algorithm is most likely a product of a root encryption system. IOW, all keys generated by a TPM can be unlocked by the root system. And it’s likely proactive. The TPM device with a new key probably ‘checks in’ with the root when a new key is created, retaining decryption of the TPM system.