[46476] in Cypherpunks
Re: 2047 bit keys in PGP
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Don Gaffney)
Thu Jan 4 13:16:57 1996
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 1996 12:59:44 -0500 (EST)
From: Don Gaffney <gaffney@emba.uvm.edu>
To: Thomas Massengale <thomas@inch.com>
Cc: "Mark M." <markm@voicenet.com>, cypherpunks@toad.com
In-Reply-To: <v02130502ad119c1ab80f@[205.231.67.43]>
On Thu, 4 Jan 1996, Thomas Massengale wrote:
> At 3:17 PM 1/3/96, Mark M. wrote:
>
> >I really don't see the point of using a key larger than 2048 bits. Any larger
> >key would actually be harder to factor than brute forcing the IDEA keyspace.
>
> the world will never need more than 640K of RAM?
A paraphase of Bill Gates in 1981:
"640K ought to be enough for anybody."
However, DRAM technology and use can't really be compared to the fundamental
mathematical problem posed by factoring prime composites. Stuffing more
gates on a chunk of silicon is just an engineering problem. Correct me
if I'm wrong, but I don't think much has happened with primes since
Legendre (1752-1833).
_____________________________________________________________________
Don Gaffney
Engineering, Mathematics & Business Administration Computer Facility
University of Vermont
237 Votey Building
Burlington, VT 05405
(802) 656-8490
Fax: (802) 656-8802
