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Re:Factoring may be easier than we think by davidwihl on Wednesday August 24, 2016 @11:08PM (#12356749)
In 1996 I asked Robert Morris Sr if he was worried that so much crypto was dependent upon factorization. "Worried? I'm not worried, but I can tell you that if US Military lives are at stake, we don't use algorithms that depend on factorization."

From that I would infer and speculate that the NSA found a pragmatic solution to factorization long ago.

Re:Factoring may be easier than we think by DashRattlesnake on Thursday August 25, 2016 @01:02AM (#12357040)
> From that I would infer and speculate that the NSA found a pragmatic solution to factorization long ago.

Or they judge that a pragmatic solution is within the realm of possibility, and they don't want take the chance of being caught with their pants down. They probably have the resources to take on many extra operational costs to avoid theoretical risks. One of the quotes on his Wikipedia pages is: "Never underestimate the attention, risk, money and time that an opponent will put into reading traffic."

Re:Factoring may be easier than we think by mkagenius on Wednesday August 24, 2016 @11:16PM (#12356783)
Because Robert Morris Sr said something hypothetical doesn't mean one should speculate.
Re:Factoring may be easier than we think by oconnor0 on Wednesday August 24, 2016 @11:26PM (#12356809)
What are the other options?
Re:Factoring may be easier than we think by daxfohl on Thursday August 25, 2016 @01:15AM (#12357072)
Re:Factoring may be easier than we think by gnarbarian on Wednesday August 24, 2016 @11:30PM (#12356822)
One time pad.
Re:Factoring may be easier than we think by w8rbt on Thursday August 25, 2016 @07:54AM (#12358306)
One time pads are still used by governments. They can easily control the hard parts (secure pad distribution and operational procedure).
Re:Factoring may be easier than we think by dnautics on Thursday August 25, 2016 @12:37AM (#12356997)
Elliptic curve