Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 3, 1990 TAG: 9007030379
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That's about 50 digits longer than any figure mathematicians before had been able to break down. If someone had asked him to perform the feat a year ago, said project director Dr. Arjen Lenstra of Bellcore Inc., "I would have said it was impossible." The world would end before the fastest computer could make all the necessary computations.
So why should anyone else be concerned about a quantum leap in calculation, even if it has math experts turning handsprings? It turns out that this development has far-reaching implications. No longer can it be assumed that data stored and transmitted electronically can be kept secret.
This is because of the method widely used in coding information by banks, telephone companies and some federal agencies such as the Defense Department. The method, devised in 1977, uses a pair of numbers in place of each letter and assigns a number to each line in a message. The latter number is multiplied by itself several times. Then it is divided by a large number whose factors, or prime numbers, are confidential. What is left over after the division is the coded message.
If the large number is too large, scrambling the message takes too long. If it is too short, decoding is made easier. Up to now, cryptographers have used numbers about 150 digits long. "For the first time," says Lenstra, "we have gotten into the realm of what is being used in cryptography. It means it is impossible to guarantee security."
This doesn't mean that the lonely computer hackers, for all their cleverness, have a new weapon for breaching the security of financial institutions or government agencies. Solving the 150-digit problem took an army of researchers, with groups working separately for about a month to solve what one likened to a giant, twisted jigsaw puzzle.
But unless a foolproof cryptographing alternative can be found, this does mean that anyone or any entity with access to enough expertise and computer power can break almost any code. Banks may have less to worry about than governments, which will have new reason to wonder just who knows what about their diplomatic positions and military deployments. The globe has suddenly shrunk once again, and others are looking over our shoulder. In a world with no assured secrets, nations may find no alternatives to living at peace with one another.
by CNB