Re: RSA Challenge Question

On Feb 11, 2:06 am, Don Del Grande <del_grande_n...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Curious_1 wrote:
This might seem like a silly question but I wanted to know .... what
would happen if someone came up with a polynomial time algorithm for
solving the hardest of RSA Challenge numbers?

Let's even take it to it's logical extreme .... what would happen if
someone came up with a general method for integer factorization that
was as simple (and equally time consuming) as multiplying the factors
to arrive at the product?

Would this person's life be over as they knew it? Would they be
assassinated? Would they be forced to live the rest of their lives in
some sort of Siberia, with no contact with the rest of the world???

It depends. Could they get more money from claiming the RSA prize, or
from somebody who would want to be able to break RSA for their own
good? (Isn't RSA the key to breaking PGP, for example?)

Again, silly question ... but would probably make for a good novel or
movie!

Wasn't this more or less the original draft of what became "Good Will
Hunting" (except that it dealt with a particular code, not a general
formula for decoding RSA)?

-- Don

Thanks for the replies everyone .... That's funny you should mention
"Good Will Hunting" - I saw that movie a few days ago and that's what
prompted the "what if" question that was lingering in the brain!

As for winning the Field's Medal, that leads me to another
question .... who's to say that if/when someone submits the correct
two factors to RSA Labs, that someone on their end wouldn't just claim
the prize money for themselves??? Chances are someone who works at RSA
Labs may not be even *eligible* to claim the prize but what if a
friend of a friend of a friend of someone who worked at RSA suddenly
and miraculously became aware of the two factors? (I gotta stop
watching conspiracy-theory movies!)

Thanks again in advance everyone!


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: RSA Challenge Question
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  • Re: RSA Challenge Question
    ... solving the hardest of RSA Challenge numbers? ... someone came up with a general method for integer factorization that ... Would they be forced to live the rest of their lives in ...
    (sci.math)