768-bit RSA encryption has been cracked
The days of relying on encryption to protect private data are coming to an end after it emerged that the use of distributed computing resources resulted in the cracking of the seemingly impregnable 769-bit RSA encryption standard.
Hot on the heels of news that the GSM A5/1 encryption system has been cracked comes reports that a second crypto system - 768-bit RSA - has now been hung out to dry using a cluster PC brute-force approach. It emerged over the weekend news that the 768-bit RSA encryption was cracked - generating a huge five-terabyte password file in the process.
"Cracking this crypto system using a 2.2GHz Opteron processor-based PC would reportedly have taken around 1,500 years, but the process has been dramatically speeded up using distributed computer resources and cluster PC approach," said Andy Cordial, managing director with the storage systems integration specialist Origin Storage.
