What's the latest in factoring? (fwd)

[Jim Choate]

Forwarded message:

> Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 13:40:03 -0800
> From: Bill Stewart <bill.stewart at 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.



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