Time: Wed Jul 30 06:42:58 1997
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Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 05:27:36 -0700
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: to "crack" RSA RC5-56
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I don't have enough talent to crack RSA RC5-56,
but I will say this much:
#1: processor speeds are taking quantum leaps,
so there is very little to lose by opting
for 1024- or even 2048-bit keys; see the
mathematical appendix in the original PGP
book, and you will appreciate the complexity
impact of adding each new bit to the key;
DEC's Alpha chip is oscillating at 500MHz
(FIVE TIMES the rate of FM radio stations!)
#2: disk drives are expected to fall 50% in
price/space, per annum for the next 5 years,
so permanent storage is no longer a problem
#3: even though RAM prices may not fall as quickly,
going from 16MB to 32MB provides a HUGE increase
in available RAM, because all of that is available
for user programs; 64MB will soon become the
base machine; so, available RAM should not be
a problem either, particularly if prices should
start to drop. We paid $45,000 for 1MB in December
of 1979, by comparison (dating myself here:)
So, don't bother with the shorter keys, if you need
ironclad security. When in doubt, use a 1024-bit
key, and you can rest assured that the federal
government will not soon own every computer on
the planet (which would be needed to break such
a long key).
/s/ Paul Mitchell
http://www.supremelaw.com
At 07:39 AM 7/30/97 +0100, you wrote:
>Hi group,
>this is w-a-y off topic, but as everybody is so interested in cryptography
>these days (with the advent of PGP 5.0) I though some of the list members
>would like to become involved in an internet challenge.
>
>There is an effort in progress to "crack" RSA RC5-56. What is RC5?
>RC5 is a fast block cipher designed by Rivest for RSA Data Security. It is a
>parameterized algorithm with a variable block size, a variable key size, and
>a variable number of rounds.
>
>This is an effort to demonstrate to the U.S. government that 56-bit
>encryption is not sufficient as an international encryption mechanism. If a
>collection of amateur Internet enthusiasts can break the encryption (and it
>will), then limitless government budgets can certainly do the same in less
>time.
>
>As a little carrot, there is a prize available of $1,000 :-) Well, actually
>it's $10,000, but $1,000 goes to the people who are administering this
>challenge and $8,000 goes to charity - that leaves $1,000 for *YOU* (if your
>lucky enough to find the correct key.) It involves very little work on your
>part - you can download a small client which runs quite happily in the
>background using only unused CPU time.
>
>Anyway, enough of me - read all more about it at: http://rc5.distributed.net/
>
>Thank you for taking the time to read this.
>
>Regards,
>
>Mark
>
>
>--
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>See X-PGP-DSSkey: & X-PGP-RSAkey: headers for my PGP public keys
> S/MIME e-mail also supported
> mailto:mark@mbsystem.u-net.com
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
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Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness
B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine
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