Editing Key size (section)

{{Short description|Number of bits in a key used by a cryptographic algorithm}}
In [[cryptography]], '''key size''' or '''key length''' refers to the number of [[bit]]s in a [[key (cryptography)|key]] used by a [[Cryptography|cryptographic]] algorithm (such as a [[cipher]]).

Key length defines the upper-bound on an algorithm's [[Security level|security]] (i.e. a logarithmic measure of the fastest known attack against an algorithm), because the security of all algorithms can be violated by [[brute-force attack]]s. Ideally, the lower-bound on an algorithm's security is by design equal to the key length (that is, the algorithm's design does not detract from the degree of security inherent in the key length).

Most [[symmetric-key algorithm]]s are designed to have security equal to their key length. However, after design, a new attack might be discovered. For instance, [[Triple DES]] was designed to have a 168-bit key, but an attack of complexity 2<sup>112</sup> is now known (i.e. Triple DES now only has 112 bits of security, and of the 168 bits in the key the attack has rendered 56 'ineffective' towards security). Nevertheless, as long as the security (understood as "the amount of effort it would take to gain access") is sufficient for a particular application, then it does not matter if key length and security coincide. This is important for [[asymmetric-key algorithm]]s, because no such algorithm is known to satisfy this property; [[elliptic curve cryptography]] comes the closest with an effective security of roughly half its key length.