Re: Why are 1024 bit keys the limit right now?

[Derek Atkins <warlord@MIT.EDU>]

There is no PGP 2.6.3; at least not that came from MIT... Someone
else may have made something claiming to be 2.6.3, but it did not
originate from MIT.

-derek

"Mark M." <markm@voicenet.com> writes:

> 
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> 
> On Wed, 8 Jan 1997, James A. Tunnicliffe wrote:
> 
> > All current versions of PGP allow key sizes up to 2048* bits.  (When
> > asked for the size of the key to generate, it allows you to select 512,
> > 768, 1024, OR TO *TYPE IN THE NUMBER OF BITS DESIRED*.) There are older,
> > partially incompatible versions that allow even larger keys, though
> > there is little reason to go higher. Beyond something like 3100 bits, it
> > is surmised that the 128-bit IDEA session key is easier to attack.
> 
> RSAREF limits the size of the key being generated to 1024 bits.  RSADSI
> permitted PGP to distribute a slightly altered version that supports keys up
> to 2048 bits with the U.S. version.  2.6.3 does not have the altered RSAREF
> code, so the U.S. version cannot use keys larger than 1024 bits (unless, of
> course, one uses the rsaref library distributed with 2.6.2).
> 
> 
> Mark
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-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board (SIPB)
    Home page: http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/warlord/home_page.html
       warlord@MIT.EDU    PP-ASEL     N1NWH    PGP key available