Re:Factoring may be easier than we think
by feral on Wednesday August 24, 2016 @07:44PM
(#12356053)
>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.]
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.]