
Making art with SSH key randomart - jgrahamc
https://blog.benjojo.co.uk/post/ssh-randomart-how-does-it-work-art
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ktpsns
I just thought this would be an argument why "textual" fingerprints like

    
    
       SHA256:s6N0OwlTDKjDez98kZRwUGZbTYaQUArv+EYC6sigFwA ben@eshwil
    

are superior to the "visualized" fingerprints: They are harder to imitate by
an attacker.

However, I realized this argument is invalid: If you -- as a human -- compare
two fingerprints by just looking at parts of the texts/image, you haven't done
a full verification and thus are vulnerable. Therefore, in principle, the kind
of key authentification how it is done in modern smartphone messengers (making
a photo of a visual key (encoded in a QR code or similar) where the smartphone
then verifies every single bit) is the right way to go when it comes to
fingerprint verification. Humans are too impatient and too inaccurate for this
job.

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RpFLCL
I went into this expecting to see a bunch of precompiled randomarts manually
tiled to create a composite picture.

I was not expecting to learn the simple rules that underpin how randomart is
generated for a hash and then to see the author discover hashes that roughly
match the goal.

Happily surprised! Very cool to read.

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floatrock
In crypto, you can dedicate a modest amount of computing power to get a
"vanity address" \-- hash enough wallet keys and you get an address that
starts with 4 or 5 letters of your choosing.

This is basically the same thing for ssh keys... get something that vaguely
looks like some shape you desire.

Neat!

~~~
lifeisstillgood
I think I just saw a side business flash past - domain squatting /
personalised number plates on the blockchain...

it's actually worth a try ...

~~~
okwme
[https://blog.ricmoo.com/contract-
addresses-549074919ec8](https://blog.ricmoo.com/contract-
addresses-549074919ec8) [https://github.com/ricmoo/vanity-
contract](https://github.com/ricmoo/vanity-contract)

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settrans
Very cool; now all we need is a proof-of-work formalization to base a
cryptocurrency on. Artcoin?

~~~
okwme
[https://clovers.network](https://clovers.network)

~~~
jonnydubowsky
Clovers is awesome!

~~~
okwme
Thanks :: ) stay tuned for updates!

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villasv
"With that in mind though, we can brute force similar keys"

You mean actually brute force key generations until you get what you want? In
that case, how's anything previous in the article worth anything?

The drunken bishop article actually performs some smart brute force searches.
Maybe the author is doing something similar?

