On Fri, 24 May 1996, E. ALLEN SMITH wrote:
Hmm.... what were the normal key-length recommendations again? This appears to imply that the NSA can break at least 64-bit, and probably 80-bit, encryption. How does this translate into public key lengths? E.g., how many normal bits is a 1024-bit PGP key equivalent to? -Allen
The normal key-length recommendation was 96 bits. 64 bits and 80 bits are equivalent to 512 bits and 768 bits respectively. I would guess that a 1024-bit key is about as strong as an 96-bit key. The first two numbers are from _Applied Cryptography_; my estimate is an extrapolation from the data in AC. -- Mark =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= markm@voicenet.com | finger -l for PGP key 0xe3bf2169 http://www.voicenet.com/~markm/ | d61734f2800486ae6f79bfeb70f95348 ((2b) || !(2b)) | Old key now used only for signatures "The concept of normalcy is just a conspiracy of the majority" -me