De door RSA Laboratories, het onderzoekscentrum van RSA Security uitgeschreven cryptografiewedstrijd 'RSA-576 Factoring Challenge' is opgelost. Door intensief samen te werken zijn mensen van onder andere het Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica in Nederland en het Mathematisches Institut in Bonn, Duitland in iets minder dan drie maanden tot de oplossing gekomen. Zij maakten hiervoor gebruik van de rekenkracht van ongeveer 100 computers. RSA Security beloont de winnaars met een prijs van 10.000 dollar.
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Mathematicians From Around the World Collaborate to Solve Latest RSA Factoring Challenge
Contest provides practical gauge of current cryptographic research and encourages development of higher standards of security for organizations
BEDFORD, Mass., April 27, 2004 - RSA Laboratories, the research center of RSA Security Inc. (NASDAQ: RSAS) today announced that a team from the Scientific Computing Institute and the Pure Mathematics Institute in Germany, along with the National Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science in the Netherlands and several other organizations, has solved the RSA-576 Factoring Challenge. The worldwide team of eight solved the challenge using approximately 100 workstations in a little more than three months, and earned a cash prize of $10,000 from RSA Security for their efforts.
Originally started in 1991 and relaunched with its current set of challenge numbers in 2001, RSA Laboratories' Factoring Challenge was established to encourage research into computational number theory and the practical difficulty of factoring large integers. "The information received during these challenges is a valuable resource to the cryptographic community and can be helpful for organizations in choosing appropriate cryptographic measures for a desired level of security," said Burt Kaliski, chief scientist and director at RSA Laboratories.
To solve the factoring challenge, the consortium leveraged resources from around the world, including hardware from the Experimental Mathematics Institute in Essen, Germany, from the Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnologie (BSI), and experts from the Number Field Sieve network of mathematicians throughout Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. The factoring of RSA-576 was completed using the general number field sieve factoring algorithm (GNFS) to gather data, find dependencies among the data and ultimately leverage those dependencies to factor the number.
"I'm very proud of all these individuals from around the world and their efforts to solve this first factoring challenge," said Jens Franke of the Pure Mathematics Institute at Bonn University. "The collaborative efforts of everyone involved in this accomplishment are indicative of the achievements in mathematics, and cryptography on a greater scale, that can be realized and applied to protect the data of businesses around the world. We are excited to continue working on such projects that will assist in cryptographic research to build stronger algorithms in an effort to ensure the integrity of sensitive corporate information."
RSA Laboratories sponsors a series of cryptographic challenges that allow individuals or groups to attempt to solve various encryption "puzzles" for cash prizes. The RSA-576 Factoring Challenge is one of a series of factoring challenges set forth by the research arm of RSA Security to determine the difficulty of customizing algorithms for factoring and assessing the strength of larger key sizes.
RSA-576 is a smaller-scale example of the types of cryptographic keys that are recommended to secure Internet and wireless transactions. Typical keys are at least 1024 bits (310 decimal digits); RSA-576 is 576 bits (174 decimal digits). Larger numbers are considered to provide significantly greater security. The next challenge number in the series is RSA-640.
"RSA Security extends our congratulations to the team for their efforts," said Kaliski. "This challenge demonstrates how the work of a few can have a broad impact on the development of the critical nature of cryptography. Their work reflects the kind of expertise and resources needed to factor large numbers. Such challenges are designed to track the evolution of cryptographic research and ensure businesses are protecting their intellectual property and critical data with the right levels of security."
About RSA Security Inc.
RSA Security Inc. helps organizations protect private information and manage the identities of people and applications accessing and exchanging that information. RSA Security's portfolio of solutions - including identity & access management, secure mobile & remote access, secure enterprise access and secure transactions - are all designed to provide the most seamless e-security experience in the market. Our strong reputation is built on our history of ingenuity, leadership, proven technologies and our more than 14,000 customers around the globe. Together with more than 1,000 technology and integration partners, RSA Security inspires confidence in everyone to experience the power and promise of the Internet. For more information, please visit www.rsasecurity.com.
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