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From: flackc@stolaf.UUCP (Chap Flack)
Newsgroups: net.crypt
Subject: Re: Re: factoring algorithms and RSA public key code
Message-ID: <5119@stolaf.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 22-Feb-86 21:37:24 EST
Article-I.D.: stolaf.5119
Posted: Sat Feb 22 21:37:24 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Feb-86 07:38:04 EST
References: <5083@stolaf.UUCP> <1404@panda.UUCP> <980@brl-smoke.ARPA> <2154@utcsri.UUCP>
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Organization: Carleton College, Northfield, MN
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> >Yet another illustration of the folly of basing cryptosystems
> >on the presumed ignorance of the "enemy".
> What else do you base them on?
Well, suppose the problem of factoring a product of two large primes were
*provably* hard.  In that case, the security of the system would not
depend on the enemy's ignorance.  A more knowledgeable enemy would simply
know better than to try to break it.

In this particular case, the problem is not provably hard (at least, I
haven't heard of a proof), but the idea is that you *can* imagine
a cryptosystem that would not depend on the enemy's ignorance.
-- 
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Chap Flack				ihnp4!stolaf!agnes!flackc
Carleton College			ihnp4!stolaf!flackc
Northfield, MN  55057