Factoring and Cryptography

Abstract

I would like to correct the misimpression given by Barry J. Cipra's Research News article (21 Oct., p. 374) that the accom· plishmrnr of uostn, Man~, and others in factoring a lOO·digit number somehow threatrns thr security of codes (such as the RSA public·key cryptosystem) that are based on the difficulty of fmoring largr integers.