NODE 25f60ddf2048-bit key...I'm leery
lce@wwa.com (Larry E)Sun, 25 Dec 94 13:22:34 PST
Ok, call me a skeptic.
I made to tries at generating a 2048-bit key on my 33-MHZ 386 machine
using PGP 2.6.2.
Yes, I know I only get 2047 bits, but that's not what bothers me.
What bothers me is the first key generation only took thirty seconds,
and the second one under ten minutes.
Two questions:
1) Why such disparity in the two times?
2) Can the key generation possibly be done on my machine that
quickly? I was expecting it to take at least several hours, based on
what I've been reading in the cryptology groups.
NODE 7e215dc7Moving from 1024-bit -> 2048-bit key.
Jonathan Cooper <entropy@IntNet.net>Sun, 25 Dec 94 13:43:14 PST
Once I've generated a 2048-bit key, how can I update my key on the
keyservers?
-jon
( --------[ Jonathan D. Cooper ]--------[ entropy@intnet.net ]-------- )
( PGP 2.6.2 keyprint: 31 50 8F 82 B9 79 ED C4 5B 12 A0 35 E0 9B C0 01 )
( home page: http://hyperreal.com/~entropy/ ]-------[ Key-ID: 4082CCB5 )
NODE 7f8addcdRe: Moving from 1024-bit -> 2048-bit key.
Derek Atkins <warlord@MIT.EDU>Sun, 25 Dec 94 14:12:59 PST
You don't "update" your key, you add your new one, so now
you have two keys on the keyservers; your old one and your
new one.
-derek
NODE 20d129f2Re: 2048-bit key...I'm leery
Derek Atkins <warlord@MIT.EDU>Sun, 25 Dec 94 14:12:12 PST
For the first key you were just plain lucky. Most likely the first or
second number you tried happened to be a prime, so it found its p and
q fairly easily. Thats all.
The 10 minutes is much closer to the average expected time.. But the
probability is linear between the two primes you choose, so you happened
to choose _just before_ a prime. Lucky you!
-derek