2
votes
2answers
172 views

Why does the recommended key size between symmetric and assymetric encryption differ greatly?

In various articles it is mentioned that for secure communications, the recommended key sizes are 128-bit key size for symmetric encryption (which makes it $2^{128}$ possible keys?) and 2048-bit key ...
2
votes
1answer
228 views

How much extra information is in an RSA public key?

I'm trying to calculate the size of an RSA public key in Ruby. I've retrieved the key in PEM format, and once I've decoded the base64 part from the PEM format, I get the size in bytes. What I find is ...
1
vote
1answer
147 views

Which encodings have |encoding key| >> |decoding key|?

I'm looking for an encoding scheme that requires a very large encoding key E (>10MB) and suffices with a relatively small decoding key ...
16
votes
3answers
1k views

How big an RSA key is considered secure today?

I think 1024 bit RSA keys were considered secure ~5 years ago, but I assume that's not true anymore. Can 2048 or 4096 keys still be relied upon, or have we gained too much computing power in the ...
7
votes
2answers
601 views

Are there practical upper limits of RSA key lengths?

Suppose one wanted to use RSA encryption for the sole purpose of sending key bits for use in symmetric crypto systems, a dedicated key exchange system so to speak. And say you didn't think that the ...