Cost to Crack Keys

[Jason Weisberger]

> 
> But, Mark, estimates of the cost to crack a key _must_ be based on market
> prices, not on opportunistic access to machines. Such access is good for
> occasional, or one-shot, deals, but not for routine use.
> 

Is it opportunistic access of machines, Tim, or simple use of available machines? I don't 
think this kind of access is limited to one shot deals.  I've seen enough environments where 
the cpu cycles to achieve these kinds of tasks (brute forcing keys) are available and  no one 
is much going to care if it is done in a lowprofile manner.

> For example, one doesn't say "Hey, I don't see how Hertz can charge $40 a
> day to rent a car...my friend lets me use his for free."
> 

Indeed - but what is the real market value of the cpu cycles needed to pull off the task at 
hand? I think its far less than $10,000.00

> 
> "Standard accounting practices" dictate the way to estimate production costs.
> 

Thats like accepting the amortized value of an object as its real value. I don't think GAAP 
really comes into play here...