Base 256 Encoding using Unicode (B256U)

This repo contains a small C++ program to represent binary data in base 256 encoding by using Unicode characters. Typical use cases are safe passwords, digital keys, file checksums, identifiers, hashes and very big numbers.

What is B256U?

Each byte is represented by exactly one Unicode character and vice versa each Unicode character represents exactly one byte. The mapping of Byte vs Unicode is quite simple:

Byte	Unicode	Description
0 ... 9	'0' ... '9'	10 digits
10 ... 35	'A' ... 'Z'	26 uppercase letters
36 ... 61	'a' ... 'z'	26 lowercase letters
62 ... 255	'À', 'Á', 'Â', ...	194 umlaut characters

✔️ Advantages of B256U

• Ultra compact: e.g. 16 characters like 5iŗ3īÛźUKĺŰÑÞbŒŜ can encode 128-bit of data.
• Easy to recognize due to the umlaut characters.
• Safe to use: nearly impossible to remember, so people are forced to copy & paste it.
• Supports double-clicking for comfortable copy & paste (all Unicode characters are non-terminal ones).
• Supports all Unicode versions due to highest code point 385 (requires Unicode 1.0 or higher).
• Easy to implement: see the source code in main.cpp

🔧 Installation

Requires cmake and a C++ compiler. Then execute in a terminal window:

> git clone https://github.com/fleschutz/base256  # or download und unzip the ZIP file (click the green button)
> cd base256
> cmake .
> make
> ./base256

Examples of B256U

128-bit of random data in B256U: ĺËĀ8Ę3ĩŔá0VzœĹŀî, ŽTĭŊõł3ÐÑęGųĢÛąĶ, 5iŗ3īÛźUKĺŰÑÞbŒŜ, ņĨqvLŀŠsůØŸÙGCŰƀ, ŋôBĉOÍŬįēijmōįUĞÜ, Sőś6ŬŹŠęűöìÇthTK.

256-bit of random data in B256U: ħŅŹĬšÝŋţĀĸĻňőċqâĮŹúŪßWPŞÓā8æťÁüċ, Ě2ħŤRŧáÃĆĶ2ÕŀSŜöĄPŞÜbŰ06lŔùö9ĬŒģ, āLë2lÏäöĥųŧpğĨķŇHĺ4LăsŸđĵ_űLeYhĩ, ÂŚÔJàįŶļcvàPĈčIJċĉIJĂūęŻÉĢJĸķ3ğPĭŠ

How long does it take to break a random key or password?

Required is a good random generator. Then trying every possible key or password (called a 'brute force attack') at one billion attempts per second:

Key Size	Key Example	Maximum Time Needed
40-bit	ŞŰÀ8Œ	about 9 minutes
56-bit	ŖÔńĪ7ėñ	about a year
128-bit	ĤŗwĹĦñŧīijēaqöĜĖŅ	about 5,783,128,169,837,158,197,871 years
256-bit	ÿőMêŽĖiĘśŃäŞŰÀ8ŒŽĎäPfSŖÔńiĪ7ėëŷò	never, for all practical purposes

📧 Feedback

Send your email feedback to: markus.fleschutz [at] gmail.com

🤝 License & Copyright

This open source project is licensed under the CC0 license. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.