On Fri, Mar 25, 2016 at 11:28:53AM -0400, Travis Biehn wrote:

Short version: He isn't.

Just for a start, why the elliptic curve is of so small order, only 256 bits? I am pretty sure in the early days of PGP, some PGP advocate claimed something along the lines "we can't factor 128 bit modulus till the end of time". Not to mention quantum computer will fuck the curve fast.

On Sat, Mar 26, 2016 at 05:16:57AM +0000, jim bell wrote:

From: Georgi Guninski >I am pretty sure in the early days of PGP, some PGP advocate claimed

...

something along the lines "we can't factor 128 bit modulus till the end of time". Not to mention quantum computer will fuck the curve fast. Is there a mathematical estimate as to how much quantum computers will accelerate cracking codes, over traditional methods?             Jim Bell

Yes, it is known that quantum computers will break at least most of today's public key crypto (factoring, discrete logarithms) very efficiently. Several years ago IBM tested this in practice with the toy experiment of factoring 15. Some cryptographers are preparing for the day when quantum computers will come -- the buzzword is "post-quantum cryptography". I am a newbie at this and suspect the full potential of quantum computers is not currently known (AFAICT it is open if they will break SAT).