Question about key size (Was: [ale] ALE PGP Keysigning Party Instructions)

[jasonday at worldnet.att.net (Jason Day)]

On Tue, Jan 14, 2003 at 09:04:27AM -0700, Chris Ricker wrote:
> Do you encrypt anything with that 1024-bit key that's worth $1 billion to 
> someone to crack? If not, don't worry about it yet.

Well no, but that's not the point.  If 1024-bit keys can in fact be
brute-forced with $1B, then it's safe to assume that the US government,
at the very least, can read any message encrypted with a 1024-bit key.

I'm not bringing this up because I have something to hide, but because I
see little point in encrypting anything if it can be broken at will by
anyone with enough money.

I'm not a crypto or math expert, so I don't know if Berstein is just
blowing smoke or not.  I also don't know what the ramifications of using
a larger key are.  Since no one has signed my key yet, but I'm planning
to attend the keysigning party, *now* is the time to worry about it.
-- 
Jason Day                                       jasonday at
http://jasonday.home.att.net                    worldnet dot att dot net
 
"Of course I'm paranoid, everyone is trying to kill me."
    -- Weyoun-6, Star Trek: Deep Space 9
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