Re:Factoring may be easier than we think
by _asummers on Wednesday August 24, 2016 @07:30PM
(#12355998)
My thing with this argument is that not only would you have to keep your entire organization in the dark (possible, see response to Snowden) but also have to successfully recruit every academic in that space, nationally and internationally, in order to prevent them from also coming to the same conclusion. Yes it's possible, and the tinfoil hatter in me wants to think it's true, but there's too many moving parts for me to think it likely.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
>keep your entire organization in the dark
I think employees of the NSA will be used to the idea of compartmentalization.
> successfully recruit every academic
Why that ridiculously high bar?
Original article estimates 100 mathematicans have examined factoring in detail. Googling says NSA has 600 on staff. Maybe they just did a lot of work on the problem. Also, a large dedicated group may outperform the scattered efforts distributed throughout the research community.
> there's too many moving parts for me to think it likely.
Guess you're right, it'd be like as if they [insert implausibly complex project which the Snowden leaks showed they actually do.]