3 ms·

Aren't large non-primes usually created by multiplying two large but smaller primes together. Factoring is then the challenge. Or is there more to this that I

• wanderfowl 11y ago
  The question is whether they: a) knew it was non-prime, and used it to weaken the crypto b) knew it was non-prime, and used it because they didn't think it needed to be prime (which is a massive sin of ignorance) c) grabbed 1024 bits of rand() and didn't check if it was prime (again, stupid) d) grabbed some rand and checked the prime-ness using a bad method e) used a "prime number generator" that produced bad output I agree that making non-prime numbers is not terribly difficult, but the question of how they got the number is only interesting in that it gives info about why.
  • wanderfowl 11y ago
    Then again, this is wholly academic. It's not like, if it's A, the committer is going to say "yup im NSA u caught me lol."
    • sova 11y ago
      it is the same clear path as unix vs closed source research. perhaps there will be some achievements privately, but all mind and matter is interco-mingled already and forever. secrets are just another way of saying "obscure path" ... feels?
  • caf 11y ago
    f) Used a machine with bad RAM that flipped a bit. This case could actually be tested for - see if any of the one-bit differences from the number used are prime.
    • mortenlarsen 11y ago
      A bit could have been flipped in the software or the result of the function (true/false), but in the number itself there appear to be no single bit flips that make it prime (at least in the binary representation). Edit: A single bit flip could have been used as "semi" plausible deniability in the case of malicious intent.