From: uni@acs.bu.edu (Shaen Bernhardt)
Date: Sun, 28 Mar 93 19:07:03 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: PGP Secure?
Message-ID: <9303290550.AA41108@acs.bu.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Forgive my slow math mind, but I pose the following question, knowing
in advance that it's a FAQ, but I can't find an answer anywhere....

Given a brute force attack on ciphertext encrypted with PGP2.2
using the 1024 bit key, how many operations are required to
hit on the session key...?
(The session key being used with the IDEA cipher)

What about derriving the RSA key pair from the public key and message?
How many operations might this require?

Along these lines, what's the best guess at the highest technology level
available today with regard to speed?  How many operations per second
might the most resourced orginization be expected to achieve?

The real meat of this question boils down to: What are the capabilities
currently, and what is required to brute force the various stages of PGP?

Also:  What does 1024 bit refer to?  The IDEA session key? or the RSA key?

Thanks in advance...
uni