Xref: utzoo news.admin:1577 soc.singles:13497 soc.women:9248 alt.flame:1601
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!labrea!agate!ucbvax!BRAHMS.BERKELEY.EDU!gsmith
From: gsmith@BRAHMS.BERKELEY.EDU
Newsgroups: news.admin,soc.singles,soc.women,alt.flame
Subject: Bizarre authentication scheme
Message-ID: <8802080327.AA02920@jiff>
Date: 8 Feb 88 03:27:08 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: gsmith@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU ()
Followup-To: news.admin
Organization: Bosco Gang Chocolate Center
Lines: 21
Keywords: 10371664694678927135158569960683451164025292213568271978668183


 If anyone feels strongly enough about protection against
forgeries, one system which does not involve any fixes by anyone
but the user himself is to post a large number which is the
product of two large enough (say, ~10^30) primes or pseudoprimes.
In any subsequent article you wish to authenticate, you give a
pointer to the previous article and the factorization. Then you
supply a new composite number.

  I admit it is sort of goofy, but it could easily be automated
(maybe when Matthew Wiener gets back I will ask if he wants to
put it in "gnews", the posting program he is developing.)

  Anyway, the number above in "keywords" is my example of an
authentication number. I doubt the forger(s) will be desperate
enough to want to factor it, although a few people on the net
like Bob Silverman might be able to.

   ucbvax!brahms!gsmith    Gene Ward Smith/Brahms Gang/Berkeley CA 94720
Imagine what the world would be like if football was a worthy ritual performed
in stadiums but mathematics was a misunderstood activity ignored by almost all.