Written question asked by Paul Marsden (Labour) on Thursday, 4 November 1999, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 10 November 1999. It was answered by Patricia Hewitt (Labour) on Wednesday, 10 November 1999 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Dept of Trade and Industry

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what reports he has received that the RSA-155 e-commerce code has been broken by the Dutch National Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what reports he has received that the RSA-155 e-commerce code has been broken by the Dutch National Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science; and if he will make a statement. [97942] Ms Hewitt: I have not received any specific reports on this matter. The Department is, however, aware of the work of Dutch National Research Institute, and that of other academics, in the factorising of a single 512 bit RSA key over a seven month period. This, of course, does not mean that the RSA algorithm itself is insecure.

Secondary information