TWIRL: Are 1024-bit RSA Keys Unsafe?

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.

Comments

Peace, end the war!

[Anonymous Coward]

Stop the war! End the illegal occupation of Palestine! Peace to the world! http://www.stopwar.org.uk/ - UK http://www.no-war-on-iraq.org.uk/ - UK http://www.nowaroniraq.org/ - USA http://www.15februar.de/ - Germany http://www.nejtilkrig.dk/ - Denmark http://www.ingenkrig.no - Norway http://www.stoppakriget.tk/ - Sweden http://www.eiiskuairakiin.org/ - Finland http://www.geenoorlog.be/ - Belgium http://www.stop-the-war.org/ - Ireland http://www.forisociali.org/ - Italy http://www.wereldcrisis.nl/ - Holland http://www.banthebomb.org/ - Scotland http://www.gsoa.ch/ - Switzerland http://www.iraktasavasahayir.org/ - Turkey http://www.wsws.org

Re:STOP THE WAR, IMMEDIATELY!

[0x0d0a]

And what more useful place to post this than Slashdot, already full of libertarian types that aren't interested in a war for oil *anyway*?

How about printing out pamphlets, handing them out, and actually having some impact?

CIA's and NSA's next purchase

[linuxislandsucks]

You do realize that this is CIA's and NSA's next purchase don't you? Of course this also means that the World outside the United States will choose Linux on a faster scale than ever beofre..because they tend to link Microsoft with these trends..:)

Also check here:

[Anonymous Coward]

*_g_o_a_t_s_e_x_*_g_o_a_t_s_e_x_*_g_o_a_t_s_e_x_*_
g_______________________________________________g_ _
o_/_____\_____________\____________/____\_______o_ _
a|_______|_____________\__________|______|______a_ _
t|_______`._____________|_________|_______:_____t_ _
s`________|_____________|________\|_______|_____s_ _
e_\_______|_/_______/__\\\___--___\\_______:____e_ _
x__\______\/____--~~__________~--__|_\_____|____x_ _
*___\______\_-~____________________~-_\____|____*_ _
g____\______\_________.--------.______\|___|____g_ _
o______\_____\______//_________(_(__>__\___|____o_ _
a_______\___.__C____)_________(_(____>__|__/____a_ _
t_______/\_|___C_____)/______\_(_____>__|_/_____t_ _
s______/_/\|___C_____)_______|__(___>___/__\____s_ _
e_____|___(____C_____)\______/__//__/_/_____\___e_ _
x_____|____\__|_____\\_________//_(__/_______|__x_ _
*____|_\____\____)___`----___--'_____________|__*_ _
g____|__\______________\_______/____________/_|_g_ _
o___|______________/____|_____|__\____________|_o_ _
a___|_____________|____/_______\__\___________|_a_ _
t___|__________/_/____|_________|__\___________|t_ _
s___|_________/_/______\__/\___/____|__________|s_ _
e__|_________/_/________|____|_______|_________|e_ _
x__|__________|_________|____|_______|_________|x_ _
*_g_o_a_t_s_e_x_*_g_o_a_t_s_e_x_*_g_o_a_t_e_x_*_

Important Stuff: Please try to keep posts on topic. Try to reply to other people's comments instead of starting new threads. Read other people's messages before posting your own to avoid simply duplicating what has already been said. Use a clear subject that describes what your message is about. Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated. (You can read everything, even moderated posts, by adjusting your threshold on the User Preferences Page) If you want replies to your comments sent to you, consider logging in or creating an account.

Important Stuff: Please try to keep posts on topic. Try to reply to other people's comments instead of starting new threads. Read other people's messages before posting your own to avoid simply duplicating what has already been said. Use a clear subject that describes what your message is about. Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated. (You can read everything, even moderated posts, by adjusting your threshold on the User Preferences Page) If you want replies to your comments sent to you, consider logging in or creating an account.

Important Stuff: Please try to keep posts on topic. Try to reply to other people's comments instead of starting new threads. Read other people's messages before posting your own to avoid simply duplicating what has already been said. Use a clear subject that describes what your message is about. Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated. (You can read everything, even moderated posts, by adjusting your threshold on the User Preferences Page) If you want replies to your comments sent to you, consider logging in or creating an account.

Re:STOP THE WAR, IMMEDIATELY!

[Anonymous Coward]

Or better yet, he could buy a copy of the Koran and start learning to act like a Muslim, something he'll need if we don't stop Hussein now. Saddam has legions of people willing to strike the USA down, and will have to be fought eventually. It's better to fight him now, rather than have to do it when 2 million Americans have to go slogging through deserts with a haze of chemical weapons in the air. If that scenerio happens, it'll be because Saddam was allowed to gather his weapons. This isn't a war for oil, it's a war to prevent a worse war.

Brute force

[beefguts]

Someone once calculated the amount of heats created by switching a bit on or off and then calculated how much heat would be generated by a brute force approach to cracking a 1024 bit encryption key. This worked out to be about the same amount of energy as the sun puts out in one day. I'm not claiming that is entirely accurate but it makes me wonder.

why the decimal here ? say 400h bit.

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't 400h bit so much more elegant? Why say something like 1024? Say 400h. Please. Please.