Manila debates cracked code claim

A man in Manila claims he cracked a popular encryption code in three steps

MANILA, Philippines (CNN) -- A Filipino mathematician claims to have cracked the widely-used RSA encryption code using three simple formulas.

The Philippine's Manila Bulletin reports that Leo de Velez has discovered a faster way of decoding RSA, an encryption code used in many popular software programs including Lotus Notes and Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

A Filipino software wizard created the infamous Melissa "love bug" virus last year. But before Manila can be confirmed as an emerging hotbed of capable coders, tech professionals are actively debating the claim on the Web.

RSA, developed in 1977, is a commonly used encryption and authentication algorithm included in software programs. Along with Notes and Explorer, these include Netscape Navigator and Quicken.

The RSA algorithm involves the creation of two numbers that constitute the public key and the private key. Both keys are needed for encryption and decryption of confidential data.

For example, an executive can send a top secret document to a business partner by finding the partner's public key from a central administrator to encrypt the document and thus ensure its confidentiality.

All encryption can be decoded by brute force, but usually the process to do so by supercomputers takes so much time that by the end of the decryption the information is no longer of value.

Mathematics enthusiast Leo de Velez believes his finding is a faster alternative to decoding RSA encryption.

However, an email thread from the popular technology community Web site Slashdot.org refutes the claim.

"Mr Velez also wrote to me with his ideas. Unfortunately for him, his approach is actually much *slower* than the naive approach to factoring by trial division," writes Ron Rivest on a Slashdot.org thread titled "RSA Cracked - Not."

"His approach doesn't improve on any known techniques, and doesn't constitute a 'break' of RSA at all."

RSA Security Inc.
Slashdot
Manila Bulletin - Pinoy who discovered new faster way of decoding RSA encryption explains claim (2/6/01)

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