A while back I helped a friend (read: dumped a bunch of compute power into it) brute force the SSL keys for Sega's "Phantasy Star Online" Dreamcast game.
They used a similar kind of custom (and flawed) TLS implementation in their game(s) which allowed signing new certificates after brute forcing.
The benefit to this is that users can now play these games without needing to burn a new CD with either the SSL certs swapped, or the code patched to dummy out the checks. A "retail CD" will simply work with private servers now.
I've also been on the other side of the fence, building a "retro internet" service [1] has meant trying to implement ancient SSL/TLS services for things and people that want to use them on the network.
Getting modern OpenSSL (aka what ships in Debian) to even accept these ciphers, let alone keys that short is an uphill battle. Understandably, they're disabled by default and (in Debian at least) the cipher support isn't even compiled into the binary! This requires building a custom OpenSSL to build Nginx against to serve ancient SSL.
Presumably for the OP this kind of work was either outside of their realm of knowledge, or simply "easier" to outsource to the slop machine. Though I hope the machine they're running their demo TLS implementation on is separated completely from their own network. Rolling your own crypto libraries is always a bad idea [2] and I doubt LLM's have "improved" that
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSJsGNIDjtc
[2] https://soatok.blog/2025/01/31/hell-is-overconfident-develop...
(I have next to zero knowledge of matters crypto)
“Presumably for the OP this kind of work was either outside of their realm of knowledge,”
Unnecessary? I don’t even follow the statement’s framing even if I validated the apparent nerdswipe tendency.
For what it's worth, this comment was better than the article...
When you outsource to the slop machine, you don't have anything interesting to say (usually).
The slop machine gives answers to your questions. It hallucinates so it's recommended to verify what it says. Shit in, shit out. If you have no idea whatsoever and can't use other sources to verify claims, well, get a different job I guess.
Oh, I have *strong* opinions about the slop machine. But I try to temper them so I don't get buried by the usual "pro AI" mob
I will say that my projects have a "leading the pack" anti-AI policy [1]
[1] https://wiki.cursedsilicon.net/wiki/AI_Policy
Is the "pro AI" mob in the room with us? The only real mob I ever see is the one taking every chance to try to put AI down and imply its users are somehow deficient.
You must be new here then.
I don't recall doing any of that. But thanks for affirming my point? :)
Did I imply you did? I simply said I never see a "pro AI" mob, only an "anti AI" mob.
Let's flip it, then
Is the "anti AI mob" in the room with us right now? If not, why did you feel the need to lament it?
This entire comment section is almost entirely people bemoaning AI output, calling AI a "slop machine", and you posted your regressive religious screed against it as if it were something to be proud of, seemingly to the approval of others. nearly every comment section with AI involved is like this, and many comment sections where AI is not involved. It deserves pushback.
Busy downvoting their initial comment, apparently.