rick (05/12/82)
100 Mip machines (Japanese or otherwise) have no effect on the theoretical security of public/private key crypto systems. Note, I said theoretical! The security of ANY crypto system is based on the amount of effort required to discover the key (private key in the case of dual key systems). Excluding for the sake of argument non-computational methods of discovering keys (such as tapping telephone conversations), there is a relationship between the number of bits in the key and the computational difficulty of breaking a system using that key. If that relationship is exponential (as it is for any good crypto system -- particularly nearly any system in common use) then for each order of magnitude increase in compute power on the part of the 'bad-guys' it is necessary only for the 'good-guys' to add a few extra bits to the key length. On the other (practical) hand, if your crypto system is limited in the number of bits it allows in its keys (the NBS data-encryption standard is a case in point!) then you are indeed vulnerable to the advance of technology. Does this clear up the point?