Prime Security: The Mathematics of RSA Encryption
Based on simple properties of prime numbers, RSA encryption protects our money and digital identity. But how does it actually work? The Centre for Internet and Society invites you to a one-day workshop by Rohit Gupta on 9 September 2011.
Workshop
As remarked by one of its inventors, RSA is the scheme that "protects 95 per cent of the electronic commerce in the world". The recent breach of 40 million RSA Secure ID tokens ( widely used in Bangalore ) makes this an urgent issue. Apart from the proposed use of 2048-bit RSA keys in the UIDAI project by the government of India, we unknowingly use this algorithm every time we use a credit card, ATM or provide any kind of digital authentication.
Surprisingly enough, to understand the basic mechanism one need not have any more mathematical background than high school - the concept of prime numbers. From that basic knowledge this hands-on workshop will show the way RSA works in reality, under the hood in most networks, computers and smart devices. We will focus on the core mathematical idea rather than any specific software implementations.
For more information, please click here.
Convener:
Rohit Gupta is a mathematician working in the area of 'group theory' which is a fundamental part of physics, puzzles and cryptography. He is also a columnist for the Sunday Guardian and tweets as @fadesingh.
Registration:
The fees for the workshop ( Rs. 1500/- per person, cash only) is to be paid on arrival at the venue. No prior registration is required but the seats are limited to 15-20 people. Everyone who is interested is welcome.
Workshop Schedule:
Session I:11.30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Lunch:1:00 p.m. to 2.30 p.m.
Session II:2.30 p.m. to 4.00 p.m.
VIDEO
