Though I don't agree with all of it, I like this comment. Your SSL example is excellent. In the context of online shopping, SSL may protect your credit card num

Though I don't agree with all of it, I like this comment. Your SSL example is excellent. In the context of online shopping, SSL may protect your credit card number in transit, but it can't protect you from keystroke loggers that intercept the information before it is ever encrypted. Yet, the industry still uses it and people are consistently compromised by malicious software. On the other hand, I'm still learning about crypto, so I find these conversations illuminating. Thinking about ways to attack security, or trying to understand how other people approach attacks has given me a far deeper understanding than merely reading about it. However, that's a personal bias because being critical of what I learn is how I learn. Needless to say, I used to routinely drive teachers crazy...