• solrize@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      I would say, there are known sub-exponential algorithms for factoring, while nothing better than (exponential) brute force is known for ECC. So, slightly better algorithms that erode RSA further are incremental improvements, while anything sub-exponential at all for ECC would be a breakthrough. Of course as someone once said, predictions are hard to make, especially about the future.

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              2 months ago

              Most of us don’t have control over the public keys we use. We connect to a web site with a browser, and the server supplies the public key.

              If you want public keys for your own purposes, I guess nothing stops you from generating 4096 bit (or whatever) ECC keys. Of course the arithmetic will be slow.

              If you’re really paranoid about potential math advances affecting ECC and/or RSA, then you may be best off avoiding public key schemes altogether. Just use secret keys, and maybe Merkle tree signatures.

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                  1 month ago

                  They can be less convenient, yes, but a situation where you need truly public keys is probably not that secure to begin with. If you’re just trying to talk to your friends from your tree house, symmetric encryption is completely practical, including using something like DUKPT for forward secrecy.