Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

Rivest Cipher (RC) supports a maximum key length of up to 2048 bits, which is an important aspect of its design and usage in cryptography. The RC family of ciphers, including RC2, RC4, and others, was designed with flexibility in mind, enabling various key lengths according to the requirements of security for different applications.

Specifically, RC4, one of the most commonly used stream ciphers from the RC family, efficiently allows for key lengths ranging from 1 to 256 bytes (8 to 2048 bits). This adaptability in key size is essential in modern cryptographic practices, as longer keys generally increase the difficulty of cryptographic attacks, such as brute force attacks, thereby enhancing security.

While options suggesting key lengths greater than 2048 bits exist, they pertain to different cryptographic algorithms or misinterpretations of RC capabilities. The architecture of RC as a stream cipher emphasizes performance and security based on the 2048-bit maximum configuration. Hence, understanding the key length limitations and capabilities of RC contributes to applying the right cipher for specific electronic communications and data protection needs.