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TWIRL: Are 1024-bit RSA Keys Unsafe?

Posted by jamie on from the upward-not-forward-and-always... dept.

This came across the Interesting-People list today: a preliminary draft of a paper, co-authored by Adi Shamir, that proposes new hardware for factoring large numbers. It is claimed that a machine could be built which would be "3-4 orders of magnitude more cost effective than the best previously published designs," and that "the NFS sieving step for 1024-bit RSA keys can be completed in less than a year by a $10M device." For background, here's a primer on key length in symmetric and asymmetric crypto.

4 of 204 comments (clear)

  1. Oh no! A year! by Lord+Bitman · · Score: 4, Funny

    A $10,000,000 machine dedicated to breaking into a single encrypted communication for a full year will be able to break it! This makes encryption completely worthless!

    --
    -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
    1. Re:Oh no! A year! by yomegaman · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'll sell anyone who wants them all of my passwords and keys for only $5 million. Just think, 50% off and no waiting!

      --
      ...wearing a skin-tight topless leather jumpsuit, with cutaway buttocks and transparent crotch panel.
  2. Are 1024-bit RSA Keys Unsafe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course they are. I just read an article the other day on how to file them down and make a master key out of them.

    Slashdot and their damn dupes ;)

  3. Re:This should be obvious by peterpi · · Score: 4, Funny
    Clever technique; it took me an extra second or so to figure out that you meant 'Meet me'.

    From now on I shall encrypt my posts by mee mmoo un weedle dhodhe unbvoppe zzfp dee. ;)