Re: [dm-crypt] bits vs bytes

Arno Wagner
2020-03-30T21:00:23Z

On Mon, Mar 30, 2020 at 22:25:02 CEST, Michael Kjörling wrote:
> On 30 Mar 2020 20:03 +0000, from moreejt@yahoo.com (JT Morée):
> > When I run luksDump i see that multiple locations give sizes in
> > 'bits'.  Is that correct?   Normally, we operate in 8 bit => bytes.
> > If I read this correctly then
> >
> > 2: luks2 (unbound)
> >   Key:        512 bits = 64 bytes
>
> 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).
>
> 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

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Arno Wagner, Dr. sc. techn., Dipl. Inform., Email: arno@wagner.name
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