> Thanks for "coming clean".
Hehehe...I was having fun while it lasted :)
> I'd call it an "unwanted feature". George, I think perhaps the easy
> way to handle this would be to check "UsePrimeNet" and refuse to
> execute AdvancedFactor assignments if UsePrimeNet=1.
I wouldn't say that it's an unwanted feature either. IMHO, I think Primenet
should actually support it. If Primenet would support it and the client
requested factors that hadn't been factored beyond a certain point, then
none of this would have happened :) If primenet supported this feature and
actually released the exponent and would give a new one(s) that weren't
factored that high then it would be possible for those 486 machines that may
be spending a long long time on one factor to specialize in factoring up
to - say 54 bits or something.
> A more general & more secure method of preventing the type of problem
> exposed by this incident would be to have the server enforce a quota
> for the maximum number of assignments issued to any user/computer id
> combo in a particular time interval e.g. 20 per day. Yes, this could
> still be got round by anyone determined to cause mischief by changing
> the computer id and grabbing another bunch of assignments, but it
> would be effective against accidents.
A good idea although I don't know that I'd set the number this low. What if
the person is going on vacation for an extended period of time? A quick
machine can burn through factoring assignments like a knife through butter.
G-Man
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