"When it comes to encyption, some of it can be cracked in real time, no need to guess what the key is and risk sending a bad one to the server that would trigger a security action.

There is hardware to do 40bit all but instantly, 56 bit takes about an hour or so, 256 takes about a day, etc..."

"I am not going to explain how to do it, but it can be done, and it is done all the time. There are laws in place to ensure they can be cracked. Sounds strange, but that is unfortunetly the way it is. Open up Internet Explorer and hit about, 256 bit encryption support is the best it will do (US release, releases in some countries have lower bit support.). That is governed by a law as a balance of safe, but still easily crackable."

where is the facepalm smiley*?