From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@imsi.com>
Date: Mon, 16 May 94 06:17:29 PDT
To: John K Clark <johnkc@well.sf.ca.us>
Subject: Re: Quantum Computers and stuff
In-Reply-To: <199405160356.UAA21899@well.sf.ca.us>
Message-ID: <9405161317.AA26681@snark.imsi.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Bob Silverman claims that Shore's result is largely bullshit. I
haven't gotten any details yet, so I don't know for sure, but I'd say
at this point panic is not yet in order.

Perry

John K Clark says:
>         >In a startling theoretical result that could call into question
>         >any  cryptosystem based on factoring, Peter W Shore of AT&T Bell
>         >Laboratories in  Murray Hill, N.J., has just proved that
>         >factoring is "easy" when done on a  special type of computer
>         >operating according to quantum mechanical principles . Although
>         >such a quantum computer does not yet exist, this finding has
>         >shaken the cryptographic community.
>         
> By "easy" I presume they mean solvable in Polynomical time. I'm
> not saying the writing is on the wall or anything but it might
> be prudent to start thinking about Diffe-Hellman, perhaps using
> elliptic curves.