From: norm@netcom.com (Norman Hardy)
Date: Mon, 9 May 94 23:48:33 PDT
To: dat@ebt.com (David Taffs)
Subject: Re: Patents on RSA will expire soon....
Message-ID: <199405100646.XAA20601@netcom.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


The algorithm that factored RSA129 takes about exp(sqrt((log n)(log log
n))) steps.
Indeed 10^17 instructions is just about how much work was required to
factor RSA129--.
That formula gives about 10^29 for a 1024 bit number. If computers double
in speed every 18 months then they will be only 32 times as fast when the
patents expire.