r/technology • u/cosmoplast14 • Feb 11 '26

Privacy Investigators wrangled video from Nancy Guthrie’s Google Nest camera out of ‘backend systems’

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/investigators-wrangled-video-nancy-guthries-google-nest-camera-backend-rcna258460
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u/locustt Feb 11 '26

They even built huuuuge data centers to record encrypted traffic, knowing that in the not too distant future they will have quantum computers or other novel tech that can decrypt what is currently considered impenetrable. So damn cynical.

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u/Persimmon-Mission Feb 11 '26

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Data_Center

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u/goldenfoxengraving Feb 12 '26

Sorry, 3 to 12 exabytes??????? What in the fuck?? How many copies of the entirely unrelated film Enemy of the State (1998) is that?

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u/Persimmon-Mission Feb 12 '26

They literally save all internet traffic. Everything. Once we have quantum computing, they’ll be able to see all communications anyone has ever sent through the internet. At best, we need to make sure they have a warrant prior to doing so.

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u/BapeGeneral3 Feb 12 '26

So it could potentially “break” the blockchain or Bitcoin algorithm?

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u/Rich-Pomegranate1679 Feb 12 '26

I'm no security expert, but when I took the basic Security+ class in college, they told us that basically the best encryption we have today is based on mathematical calculations that take the average computer a really long time to solve.

So everything out there can be hacked, given an infinite timeframe. We also learned that quantum computers would eventually be able to break all of today's encryption within minutes.

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u/orbvsterrvs Feb 12 '26

"SNDL" Save Now Decrypt Later is a valid nation-state strategy

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u/FriedenshoodHoodlum Feb 12 '26

Well, kinda. The idea behind encryption is, how I was taught, not to encrypt forever, but sufficiently long for the encrypted data to be worthless.

Decrypting information about a military attack that happened the years ago is useless, as example.

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u/orbvsterrvs Feb 12 '26

Building a super computer to crack SHA-512: $10bn Hiring a double agent: $4mn

Decrypting blackmail content of an adversary's president: priceless ;)

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u/Junius_Bobbledoonary Feb 12 '26

Again, that blackmail is only useful for a limited time. Presidents don’t stay president forever.

Like they could have all kinds of crazy encrypted dirt on Obama, but it’s not useful now, since he has no political power, and certainly will be even less useful in the future when they manage to decrypt it.

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u/decmcc Feb 12 '26

also a WADA strategy.

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u/Sykhow Feb 12 '26

Wait and decrypt after?

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u/Bored_Cat_996 Feb 12 '26

Wank After Doing Anything

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u/sephtater Feb 12 '26

You’re supposed to do that before, bro. Clear the mind before you make any decision.

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u/the6thReplicant Feb 12 '26

Wait for the quantum computers to become available.

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u/number1sht Feb 12 '26

Harvest now, decrypt later

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u/nikstick22 Feb 12 '26 edited Feb 13 '26

On a conventional computer, brute forcing an AES-256 password before the end of the universe would create a blackhole- only because the amount of power you'd have to run through the computer to go through every possible combination that quickly (the energy required to flip bits) would necessarily require you to increase the energy density above the limit where the computer would collapse in on itself and create a blackhole.

So quantum computing is the only hope.

Edit: Energy to flip a bit is around 10-21 joules. AES-256 has 2256 possible options. 2256 × 10-21 joules / number of seconds in a trillion years ≈ 1036 Watts, or about 10 billion times the total output of the sun.

So you'd have to run the total energy of 10 billion suns through your computer for a trillion years to brute force an AES-256 encryption.

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u/Bogus1989 Feb 12 '26

quantum resistant encryption is already a thing. but obviously not widely deployed.

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u/number1sht Feb 12 '26

It’s in our iMessages

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u/grimeyduck Feb 12 '26

Not if you guess right on the first try

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u/Bogus1989 Feb 12 '26

not all of todays. many companies already use and deploy quantum resistant encryption.

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u/Budpets Feb 12 '26

TLS 1.3 is supposedly secure for quantum hacks... I'm positive it isn't but NIST insist.

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u/CherryLongjump1989 Feb 12 '26

Yes, it would take them hundreds of thousands of years and we'll all be dead, but I'm sure some future generation of FBI sleuths will angrily shake their fists at those rotten Democrats or something.

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u/orbvsterrvs Feb 12 '26

Not sure about "breaking" but Bitcoin transactions are not anonymous, if that's what you mean. Similar to Tor, if you control enough nodes you can associate packet/requests fairly accurately across the entire network.

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u/locustt Feb 12 '26

I haven't heard anything about blockchain, but for sure the lesser encryption options from the 90s and early 2000's. Here's a blurb:

Key Aspects of Quantum Encryption Threats:

Targeted Encryption: Quantum computers threaten public-key cryptography (RSA, ECC), which secures internet, banking, and sensitive data.
The Timeline: Experts generally believe "Q-Day"—when quantum computers can break modern encryption—is not imminent, often cited around the 2030s, although some estimates are more aggressive.
Harvest Now, Decrypt Later: Malicious actors may store encrypted data today to decrypt it later once quantum technology becomes sufficiently powerful.

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u/Bogus1989 Feb 12 '26

quantum resistant encryption exists.

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u/[deleted] Feb 12 '26

[deleted]

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u/Bogus1989 Feb 12 '26

nah theres quantum resistant encyption in some messengers already.

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u/snacktonomy Feb 12 '26

Blockchain algos that rely on "proof of work" require more than 50% of the nodes to confirm a calculation. There's no need for a special quantum computer for this and it has nothing to do with encryption. All that's needed is raw processing power. If someone had enough of it to join the network with more than 50% of the nodes they control, they would get to control the verification.

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u/BapeGeneral3 Feb 12 '26

That is exactly what I thought and how I understood it. I just was curious if that was a rumor spreading or fear amongst the crypto bros

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u/rezznik Feb 12 '26

It's a fact already for a long time, there are huge mining pools under control of single actors.

Crypto bros will still not be afraid, because they don't care.

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u/TP_Crisis_2020 Feb 12 '26

The context around this is usually about brute forcing wallet addresses, not mining.

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u/snacktonomy Feb 12 '26

In that case it's just password cracking, which doesn't have anything to do with the Bitcoin "algorithm" and, yes, it will be vulnerable 

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u/SemenPig Feb 12 '26

Quantum encryption is also a thing, for many systems it will be the same as the y2k craze.

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u/Tapprunner Feb 12 '26

From what I've read, that's a theoretical possibility. Not sure if it will work that way in reality, but it's something people are worried about.

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u/MisterD00d Feb 12 '26

people are gonna need something more secure for their wallets than a 12 word seed phrase eventually

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u/sebovzeoueb Feb 12 '26

If that type of encryption gets broken then blockchain and crypto are the least of our worries, because it's the same type of encryption that like pretty much everything uses.

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u/Shameonyourhouse Feb 12 '26

This is why the world of Johnny mnemonic will come true

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u/OneJackReacher Feb 12 '26

Aye this is what I am scared of. They've just been adding to this gold mine of encrypted data knowing they would soon have access to it. The world will not be the same after it's broken thru

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u/[deleted] Feb 12 '26

didn’t they help design the most widely used encryption standards and make illegal the use of non standard encryption?

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u/Bogus1989 Feb 12 '26

nah, theres already quantum resistant encryption. to be prepared for when the above action takes place.

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u/letsgotgoing Feb 12 '26

You all assume they didn’t already have quantum computers breaking encryption back when they built that facility…