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Asimov && RSA-129
On Wed, 27 Apr 1994, Phil G. Fraering wrote:
> (Who thinks that the whole point of cypherpunks *was* supposed to be that
> modern electronics and networking would make standard spook blind drops
> and the like obsolete).
<smile> ah, but one day when we are truly computerized, the ability to
hand-write messages and pass them on obsolete paper will be such an
esoteric enterprise that it will be reserved for eccentrics, SCA
reenactors, and spies. (wasn't there an Asimov story about man
rediscovering the ability to do math by hand after centuries of
calculator dependency?)
-=*=-
I do have another observation...I read the "RSA-129 Cracked" piece but as a
true cryptologic novice who hasn't even finished reading _Applied
Cryptography_, I was uncertain of the implications of this. As I
understood it, the team cracked a specific message encoded with RSA-129
after about 10 months of work by dozens of people working in concert.
Since my goal is to achieve a level of encryption that the government
(read: NSA) cannot penetrate, this brought some questions to mind.
Assuming that the NSA, with its massive budget and ability to
design/manufacture/buy special-purpose hardware, could duplicate the
efforts of all those on the "crack" team, does this mean that the NSA can
break any RSA-129-encoded message in ~10 months? Or would it be
reasonable to assume that they can work faster?
From Schneier's book, I draw the conclusion that while this is
significant, it does not affect current RSA usage, which uses longer
keys...1024-bit/308-digit for "the most paranoid use" (Schneier). Am I
correct in assuming that this news has little bearing on current PGP use?
Andrew Fabbro If laws are outlawed,
[email protected] only outlaws will
University of Michigan have laws. Fnord.
_____________________________________________________________
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