Numbers contained in the ``factoring challenge'' of RSA Data Security, Inc. An additional number which is not part of the actual challenge is the RSA-129 number. The RSA numbers which have been factored are RSA-100, RSA-110, RSA-120, RSA-129, and RSA-130 (Cowie et al. 1996).
RSA-129 is a 129-digit number used to encrypt one of the first public-key messages. This message was published by R. Rivest, A. Shamir, and L. Adleman (Gardner 1977), along with the number and a $100 reward for its decryption. Despite belief that the message encoded by RSA-129 ``would take millions of years of break,'' RSA-129 was factored in 1994 using a distributed computation which harnessed networked computers spread around the globe performing a multiple polynomial Quadratic Sieve Factorization Method. The effort was coordinated by P. Leylad, D. Atkins, and M. Graff. They received 112,011 full factorizations, 1,431,337 single partial factorizations, and 8,881,138 double partial factorizations out of a factor base of 524,339 Primes. The final Matrix obtained was square.
The text of the message was ``The magic words are squeamish ossifrage'' (an ossifrage is a rare, predatory vulture found in the mountains of Europe), and the Factorization (into a 64-Digit number and a 65-Digit number) is
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© 1996-9 Eric W. Weisstein