Security
Permanent link to this comic: http://xkcd.com/538/
Image URL (for hotlinking/embedding): http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/security.png
A Crypto nerd's imagination:
Guy [[Holding Laptop]]: His laptop's encrypted. Let's build a million-dollar cluster to crack it.
Other guy: No good! It's 4096-bit RSA!
Guy: Blast! Our evil plan is foiled!
What would actually happen:
Guy [[Holding money tag and wrench]]: His laptop's encrypted. Drug him and hit him with this $5 wrench until he tells us the password.
Other guy [[taking the wrench]]: Got it.
{{Alt-Text: Actual Actual Reality: Nobody really cares about his secrets. (Also, I would be hard pressed to find that wrench for $5.)}}