The main reason why we take 512, 768, 1024, 2048, 4096,... bit is, that these numbers are multiples of 8 ans though can be fractioned into bytes (1024 bit = 128 byte). Withe the increase of calculation power the key size was increased, in the end by doubling the number of bits.
To answer our second question: A real 1024-bit-key must have at least 1017 bit, so it consits of 128 byte (= 1024 bit) with 7 leading zeros. Regards Thomas Beckmann > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > Von: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Auftrag von Tan Eng Ten > Gesendet: Mittwoch, 17. August 2005 08:22 > An: openssl-users@openssl.org > Betreff: RSA key sizes > > > Hi all, > > This is a general crypto question and I hope someone > could help me out. > > Often we use RSA of 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, etc. bit > lengths. Are other > sizes such as 520/1045 bit "valid"? Mathematically, it should > work, but > are there reasons why odd sizes are not to be used? > ______________________________________________________________________ > OpenSSL Project http://www.openssl.org > User Support Mailing List openssl-users@openssl.org > Automated List Manager [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ______________________________________________________________________ OpenSSL Project http://www.openssl.org User Support Mailing List openssl-users@openssl.org Automated List Manager [EMAIL PROTECTED]
