Quantum Computers and stuff

[John K Clark]

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I found this in the May 6 issue of Science:

        >At the same press conference where Lenstra and company announced
        >the defeat  of RSA-129,he promised a "surprise" for the next
        >factoring feat. He hinted at a new, faster algorithm- and
        >perhaps a test involving a number with quite a  few more digits
        >than 129.
      
Then I found this in the May 7 issue of Science News:

        >In a startling theoretical result that could call into question
        >any  cryptosystem based on factoring, Peter W Shore of AT&T Bell
        >Laboratories in  Murray Hill, N.J., has just proved that
        >factoring is "easy" when done on a  special type of computer
        >operating according to quantum mechanical principles . Although
        >such a quantum computer does not yet exist, this finding has
        >shaken the cryptographic community.
        
By "easy" I presume they mean solvable in Polynomical time. I'm
not saying the writing is on the wall or anything but it might
be prudent to start thinking about Diffe-Hellman, perhaps using
elliptic curves.

                        John K Clark                   johnkc at well.sf.ca.us

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