Sec 3.7 and 6.1 due April 15th

What was difficult? and reflections

The most difficult part yet most interesting part of the reading was the section on RSA. It was hard to understand the underlying math of how RSA works mainly due to all the big scary numbers. It also bothers my that the "hardness" of factoring is the only thing that keeps this method secure. Eve has all the information she needs yet she has no way of solving for p and q, unless she makes very lucky guesses. It just seems strange and hard to grasp, the math side of me says it must be possible to factor while the computer scientist side of me says it cannot be done fast enough.

And that reason is why RSA also fascinates me. It is almost like giving your attacker everything they need but then taunt them for having the inability to solve for p and q. RSA was one of the first real encryption protocols I was taught back in my Aerospace job. So it is nice to have this refresher on it and to still be intrigued by it.