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Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 23:00:22 +0200
From: Arno Wagner <arno@wagner.name>
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Subject: Re: [dm-crypt] bits vs bytes
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To: dm-crypt@saout.de

On Mon, Mar 30, 2020 at 22:25:02 CEST, Michael Kj=F6rling wrote:
> On 30 Mar 2020 20:03 +0000, from moreejt@yahoo.com (JT Mor=E9e):
> > When I run luksDump i see that multiple locations give sizes in
> > 'bits'.=A0 Is that correct?=A0=A0 Normally, we operate in 8 bit =3D> by=
tes.=A0
> > If I read this correctly then
> >=20
> > 2: luks2 (unbound)
> > =A0 Key:=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 512 bits =3D 64 bytes
>=20
> Cryptographic key sizes, hash lengths, block sizes, and similar
> quantities are commonly stated in bits, not bytes, especially for
> algorithms typically implemented on digital, binary computers (in
> either hardware or software).
>=20
> There's likely a variety of reasons for this; some historical, some
> mathematical.

Probably the most important is that the concept of a byte has no
real meaning for these values.

Regards,
Arno

--=20
Arno Wagner,     Dr. sc. techn., Dipl. Inform.,    Email: arno@wagner.name
GnuPG: ID: CB5D9718  FP: 12D6 C03B 1B30 33BB 13CF  B774 E35C 5FA1 CB5D 9718
----
A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers. -- Plato

If it's in the news, don't worry about it.  The very definition of=20
"news" is "something that hardly ever happens." -- Bruce Schneier