Re:Illegal prime
by oscardelben on Monday January 11, 2010 @10:40AM
(#1045247)
I still don't get how a prime number can reveal hidden information. Can someone please explain me the process?
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From the article: Its binary representation corresponds to a compressed version of the C source code of a computer program.
it doesn't reveal information except that it is a constant that is used as part of a process of encryption where without the constant cracking that encryption would be effectively impossible and with it cracking the encryption is trivial.
effectively the number is the encryption, as having the number makes the encryption useless. the rest of the algorithm is pointless without the number and vice versa.