From: This Space For Rent <afabbro@umich.edu>
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 94 11:07:46 PDT
To: "Phil G. Fraering" <pgf@srl01.cacs.usl.edu>
Subject: Asimov && RSA-129
In-Reply-To: <199404271647.AA08268@srl03.cacs.usl.edu>
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9404271306.B6724-0100000@virgil.ccs.itd.umich.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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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,     
weltschmerz@umich.edu           only outlaws will            
University of Michigan          have laws.  Fnord.          
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