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Ambrevar authored
Key lengths in asymmetric and symmetric encryption differ at the same security level. Thus 2048-4096 bits in asymmetric is roughly equivalent to 128-256 bits in symmetric. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_size#Key_size_and_encryption_system. When it comes to passwords, it's the entropy that matters. A high key length is useless if the password entropy is too short. Ideally, the password entropy should be about the same as the key length. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_strength#Entropy_as_a_measure_of_password_strength. Conclusion: symmetric encryption is fine for online storage too, provided the password has 128-bit or more entropy. A master password is often necessary. The advantage of asymmetric cryptography is that master password are de facto in place.
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