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From: srt@duke.UUCP (Stephen R. Tate)
Newsgroups: sci.crypt
Subject: Re: Security of RSA and factoring
Message-ID: <9054@duke.duke.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 12-Jan-87 12:58:05 EST
Article-I.D.: duke.9054
Posted: Mon Jan 12 12:58:05 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 12-Jan-87 22:43:31 EST
References: <9041@duke.duke.UUCP> <4205@columbia.UUCP>
Organization: Duke University CS Dept.; Durham, NC
Lines: 19

In article <4205@columbia.UUCP>, eppstein@tom.columbia.edu (David Eppstein) writes:
> What is true is that the
> only known method of breaking RSA involves factoring huge numbers, but
> that is not to say that there is not some other undiscovered method.
> There are cryptosystems which have been proven equivalent to
> factoring, but I don't think RSA is one of them.

The point about RSA is that if you can break the code, you can get
the factorization of the key (this is easy to do).  Therefore, it is
obviously equivalent in difficulty to factoring.  (i.e., you can set
up a "fake" RSA scheme using the number to be factored, break RSA, and
then you have the factorization of the number -- so while you don't
necessarily have to be able to factor a number to break RSA, the problems
have the same difficulty.  Make sense?)

-- 
Steve Tate			UUCP: ..!{ihnp4,decvax}!duke!srt
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