I'm following advice from here about how to encrypt a long text in java. As encrypting a long text directly using a 2048 bit key is not possible, the advice is to create a 128 bit key encryption key, then use it with AES to encrypt the long text. Then use the 2048 bit key from keystore to encrypt the 128 bit AES key and send/save the encrypted key and the long encrypted text together.

My question is..

Isn't the weakest link in the chain the 128 bits? Why can't an attacker (brute force) try to break the 128 bit key directly and just decrypt the long text with it? How to encrypt the long text with 2048 bit key so that the long text would have 2048 bits of security?

I'm following advice from here about how to encrypt a long text in Java.

As encrypting a long text directly using a 2048 bit key is not possible, the advice is to create a 128 bit key encryption key, then use it with AES to encrypt the long text. Then use the 2048 bit key from keystore to encrypt the 128 bit AES key and send/save the encrypted key and the long encrypted text together.

My question is: Isn't the weakest link in the chain the 128 bits? Why can't an attacker (brute force) try to break the 128 bit key directly and just decrypt the long text with it? How to encrypt the long text with 2048 bit key so that the long text would have 2048 bits of security?

I'm following advice from here about how to encrypt a long text in java. As encrypting a long text directly using a 2048 bit key is not possible, the advice is to create a 128 bit key encryption key, then use it with AES to encrypt the long text. Then use the 2048 bit key from keystore to sign the 128 bit AES key and send/save the encrypted key and the long encrypted text together.

My question is..

Isn't the weakest link in the chain the 128 bits? Why can't an attacker (brute force) try to break the 128 bit key directly and just decrypt the long text with it? How to encrypt the long text with 2048 bit key so that the long text would have 2048 bits of security?

I'm following advice from here about how to encrypt a long text in java. As encrypting a long text directly using a 2048 bit key is not possible, the advice is to create a 128 bit key encryption key, then use it with AES to encrypt the long text. Then use the 2048 bit key from keystore to encrypt the 128 bit AES key and send/save the encrypted key and the long encrypted text together.

My question is..

Isn't the weakest link in the chain the 128 bits? Why can't an attacker (brute force) try to break the 128 bit key directly and just decrypt the long text with it? How to encrypt the long text with 2048 bit key so that the long text would have 2048 bits of security?

I'm following advice here to encrypt a long text in java. As encrypt a long text directly using a 2048 bits certificate is not possible, the advice is to create a 128 bits key with AES, then use it to crypt the long text, then use the 2048 bits certificate from keystore to sign the 128 bits key. And send/save the encrypted key and the long encrypted text together.

My question is..

Is not the weakest link in the chain the 128 bits? Why can't an attacker (brute force) try to break just the long text protected with a 128 bits key? How to encrypt with 2048 bits the key add protection to the long text?

I'm following advice from here about how to encrypt a long text in java. As encrypting a long text directly using a 2048 bit key is not possible, the advice is to create a 128 bit key encryption key, then use it with AES to encrypt the long text. Then use the 2048 bit key from keystore to sign the 128 bit AES key and send/save the encrypted key and the long encrypted text together.

My question is..

Isn't the weakest link in the chain the 128 bits? Why can't an attacker (brute force) try to break the 128 bit key directly and just decrypt the long text with it? How to encrypt the long text with 2048 bit key so that the long text would have 2048 bits of security?