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Factorization of a 768-Bit RSA Modulus
dtmos writes "The 768-bit, 232-digit number RSA-768 has been factored. 'The number RSA-768 was taken from the now obsolete RSA Challenge list as a representative 768-bit RSA modulus. This result is a record for factoring general integers. Factoring a 1024-bit RSA modulus would be about a thousand times harder, and a 768-bit RSA modulus is several thousands times harder to factor than a 512-bit one. Because the first factorization of a 512-bit RSA modulus was reported only a decade ago it is not unreasonable to expect that 1024-bit RSA moduli can be factored well within the next decade by an academic effort such as ours . . . . Thus, it would be prudent to phase out usage of 1024-bit RSA within the next three to four years.'"
And newly generated keys for PGP/GPG are suggested to be at least 4096 bits.
The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass. - Dogen
In the security world, there's always a tradeoff between the cost of the security, the cost to an attacker to break the security, and the value of the thing being protected.
In the military world, there are many secrets which need to be (are seen as needing to be) kept for many years. For these, an encryption that takes a year and $10M to break may not be good enough, because after a year and $10M, an enemy might have information worth more than that. For my bank account, encryption that takes a year and $10M to break is more than sufficient, because the value to an attacker is approximately $47.32, plus the overdraft fees that they can stick me with.
There is no current concern for the average person, unless you're dealing in nuclear secrets or are protecting a politicians date book. Given a choice in the future, moving to a larger RSA key size is prudent change, but that's about it.
And the worms ate into his brain.