[tptacek]

Which practical attacks on 3DES are you thinking of?

[raverbashing]

Just brute force basically

But there seems to be smarter attacks (ref 21) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_DES#Security

[tptacek]

Those are not practical attacks. But your argument hinges on their being non-theoretical attacks on 3DES. Are there others you were thinking of?

[raverbashing]

3DES might have been a bad example.

My point is that even if today some sizes and lengths seem only of theoretical concern, tomorrow there might be a vulnerability, a new approach to the problem, or even natural technological evolution that might turn it into a practical attack (even when it seems impossible today)

[tptacek]

But that's true of every cryptographic primitive. You can't make reasoned decisions based on that logic.

[ReidZB]

From what I recall, the consensus is that the smarter attack is less efficient than brute force overall.