Attaching specific numbers to an expression like L(1/4) is meaningless, because L(1/4) is an asymptotic expression. Asymptotic expressions contain implied const

Attaching specific numbers to an expression like L(1/4) is meaningless, because L(1/4) is an asymptotic expression. Asymptotic expressions contain implied constants, whose values are not explicit. There's also no particular reason to expect the L(1/4) attack to apply to RSA. For one, I explained in another reply that we currently do not know any direct relationship between RSA and discrete log. In addition, Joux's latest result is not even L(1/4), it's L(epsilon) for any fixed epsilon > 0 (and in this context, the implied constant cannot be ignored, otherwise you get nonsense values). Google does use ECC, on platforms that support it. See for example http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com/2011/11/protecting-data-for-long-term-with.html http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com/2011/11/protecting-... which has a screenshot.