<cryptography, algorithm> A public-key cryptosystem for both
encryption and authentication, invented in 1977 by Ron
Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman. Its name comes from
their initials.
The RSA algorithm works as follows. Take two large prime
numbers, p and q, and find their product n = pq; n is called
the modulus. Choose a number, e, less than n and relatively
prime to (p-1)(q-1), and find its reciprocal mod (p-1)(q-1),
and call this d. Thus ed = 1 mod (p-1)(q-1); e and d are
called the public and private exponents, respectively. The
public key is the pair (n, e); the private key is d. The
factors p and q must be kept secret, or destroyed. It is
difficult (presumably) to obtain the private key d from the
public key (n, e). If one could factor n into p and q,
however, then one could obtain the private key d. Thus the
entire security of RSA depends on the difficulty of factoring;
an easy method for factoring products of large prime numbers
would break RSA.
RSA FAQ.
(2004-07-14)
Nearby terms:
RS6K « RSA « RSA Data Security, Inc. « RSA encryption » RSCS » Réseaux Associés pour la Recherche Européenne » Réseaux IP Européens
