Inside Man, no encryption in the future?

[JirinPanthosa]

Just musing, the entire concept of this episode breaks if you implement very basic cryptography.

I'm sure the computer speeds in the future have laid modern RSA and such to waste, but for the Ferengi to implement a man in the middle attack on the hologram transmission, they wouldn't just need to break the encryption, they'd have to know enough about the encryption algorithm to also mock the source, make sure the checksums match up, etc.

And I'm sure if we thought about it some more we'd be able to think of other times things like that happened. Transmissions were intercepted and replaced without question.

It's entirely possible that there are Ferengi who have totally broken Federation encryption and only sell it for a very high cost to those they trust not to expose them.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

In Flesh and Blood when the Doc is trying to repair the damaged holograms I'm mentally picture him checking Stack Overflow.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Did anyone see the Next Gen episode "Contagion"? Trek is a future where turning something off and on again is considered unprecidented, bleeding-edge science.

 

[Paul Weaver]

It seems fairly trivial to break encryption codes in most of Trek history

 

[Qonundrum]

Did anyone see the Next Gen episode "Contagion"? Trek is a future where turning something off and on again is considered unprecidented, bleeding-edge science.

Viruses had existed (since the mid-80s and "Contagion" was written around 1988) but certainly not well-known among casual viewers. Having a protected backup helps a lot. Preferably off-premises but relatively easily accessible... ...or in the case of Data in a big EEPROM cartridge with versioning control next to that "Super Mario Bros 2" video game cartridge that you know Geordi was playing during the weekends... talk about getting inside one's head...

 

[at Quark's]

Encryption in Trek:

Geordi: Let's see if we can access this terminal.
Data: lieutenant, it seems to be encrypted with a multispectral fractally enhanced isentropic code based on a quaternary syntax, as devised by dr. Mullhauser. In the 167 years since its inception, despite numerous attempt by experts from all over the Federation, no one ever has been able to.... oh, I see you're in.