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Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 13:40:03 -0800 From: Bill Stewart <bill.stewart@pobox.com> Subject: Re: What's the latest in factoring?

Remember that factoring difficulty is roughly exponential; adding logn bits about doubles the cracking workload (depending on which factoring method is being used). Factoring a 1024-bit number is _much_ harder than factoring a 512-bit number, and factoring a 2048-bit number is well into age-of-the-universe difficulty level. The practical level of factoring right now is about 512 bits, for either a distributed internet effort or an NSA internal one; in the unlikely event that Moore's law lets us double processing power 100 times in the next 150 years, that means a 1500-bit key could be crackable. So 2048 bits is certainly more than enough for _your_ lifetime.

That depends on what current and near-future medical technology can do to extend the lifespan of humans. If your assumption is that most folks younger than about 50 will be dead in 75 years I suspect that you're in for a nasty surprise. The reason I posted those cc:'s regarding such research is enough that current estimates of key strength based on human life times need to be re-evaluated. It is my suspicion that within 10-15 years it will be possible, as a matter of course in regards employer medical insurance, to have ones biological clock reset such that the lifespan will be extended 3-4 times with the main limiting factor being cancers. Under those conditions key strength lifetime computations need to be re-evaluated. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The most powerful passion in life is not love or hate, | | but the desire to edit somebody elses words. | | | | Sign in Ed Barsis' office | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage@ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|