The Beginning Of The End For 1024-bit Encryption
May 26th, 2007
Researchers were recently able to factor a specially formed (but hard to factor) 1039-bit number in a mere 11 months. It shouldn’t be too long before those 1024-bit encryption keys can be broken in a realistic amount of time. My key is 4096 bits, which was specifically discouraged by the key generation software because it was considered to be massive overkill. Maybe it pays to be paranoid. Of course quantum computers, if they ever become a reality, will make existing encryption methods obsolete.
Link: http://actualites.epfl.ch/…
(via Slashdot)
