The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory
Zhengyu (Brian) Li
Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences
University of Toronto Mississauga
MAT315H5F - Introduction to Number Theory
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 1 / 22
Table of Contents
1 Historical background
2 Important mathematical objects and results
3 Proof on the correctness of RSA
4 A real life example using RSA
5 Present and future of RSA
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 2 / 22
Table of Contents
1 Historical background
2 Important mathematical objects and results
3 Proof on the correctness of RSA
4 A real life example using RSA
5 Present and future of RSA
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 3 / 22
Historical background
Origin and Motivation
The RSA is a public-key cryptosystem, named after the initials of three
cryptographers: Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman. They
have made multiple attempts throughout the years to create a one-way
function that is hard to invert. The premise of the question is that “ Is
there an one-way function that can be reversed only if the receiver has
certain unique information? The three of them combine their perspectives
in computer science and mathematics to create the RSA system. In this
presentation, we will mainly discuss the mathematical aspect of RSA,
specifically how number theory is being applied. [1]
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 4 / 22
Table of Contents
1 Historical background
2 Important mathematical objects and results
3 Proof on the correctness of RSA
4 A real life example using RSA
5 Present and future of RSA
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 5 / 22
Important mathematical objects and results
Encoding
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
Example
“Welcome to UofT” → 2351231513520152115620
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 6 / 22
Preparation Algorithm
Algorithm
This algorithm describes the proper preparations needed before any
encoding and decoding could happen.
Step 1: Choose two large prime numbers p and q, obtain modulus
m = pq.
Step 2: Compute φ(m) = φ(p)φ(q) = (p − 1)(q − 1) since p, q are
prime numbers. Then choose a number k that is a co-prime of φ(m).
Step 3: Announce the values of m, k as public information but keep
the values of p, q as private information.
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 7 / 22
Encoding Algorithm
Algorithm
The following algorithm outlines the method of encoding.
Step 1: Convert the message into a string of numbers based on the
table above.
Step 2: Break the string of digits into multiple numbers that are all
less than m, yielding a list of numbers a1 , a2 , ..., ar .
Step 3: Use successive squaring to calculate
b1 = a1k (mod m), b2 = a2k (mod m), ..., br = ark (mod m)
Step 4: The message being sent out is the encoded list of numbers
b1 , b2 , ..., br .
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 8 / 22
Decoding Algorithm
Algorithm
Once a user received the encoded message, the following algorithm will be
able to decode the message.
Step 1: Compute
φ(m) = φ(p)φ(q) = (p − 1)(q − 1) = pq − p − q + 1 = m − p − q + 1
since we have access to the value of p, q.
Step 2: Recover a1 , a2 , ..., ar by solving x k ≡ bi (mod m) using
successive squaring, since each bi is congruent to aik (mod m).
Step 3: Once the values of a1 , a2 , ..., ar are found, we can easily
piece them together and match it with letters on the table.
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 9 / 22
Main Theorem
Theorem
Let 1 < n < m, where m = pq and
E (n) ≡ ne (mod m), D(n) ≡ nd (mod m)
where gcd(d, φ(m)), ed ≡ 1 (mod m), then we have:
D(E (n)) ≡ n (mod m)
E (D(n)) ≡ n (mod m)
Remark
This theorem states the validity of the RSA cryptosystem, by showing that
decoding the encoded message, or encoding the decoded message will
return the message itself. We will prove the theorem in the next section.
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 10 / 22
Table of Contents
1 Historical background
2 Important mathematical objects and results
3 Proof on the correctness of RSA
4 A real life example using RSA
5 Present and future of RSA
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 11 / 22
Proof on the correctness of RSA
Proof
The following is the proof for Theorem 2.1: [2]
D(E (n)) = (ne )d = (nd )e = E (D(n))
Therefore to prove the correctness of RSA, we simply needs to show that:
ned ≡ n (mod m)
ed ≡ 1 (mod m) implies that for some value k,
ned ≡ nkφ(m)+1 (mod m)
Given that p is a prime number, we can invoke Fermat’s little theorem. If
p does not divide n,
np−1 ≡ 1 (mod p) uoft.png
Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 12 / 22
Continuation
Proof.
Since (p − 1) divides φ(m),
nkφ(m) ≡ 1 (mod p) =⇒ nkφ(m)+1 ≡ n (mod p)
We can apply the same argument to q and obtain:
nkφ(m)+1 ≡ n (mod q)
Combining the above two equations and by Chinese remainder theorem,
nkφ(n)+1 ≡ n (mod m) =⇒ ned ≡ n (mod m)
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 13 / 22
Remark of the Proof
Remark
The central idea of the proof is the application of Fermat’s Little Theorem,
and essentially Chinese Remainder Theorem. Being able to prove the
correctness of RSA cryptosystem is very significant since it shows the
reliability of the algorithm, which results in its wide usage nowadays.
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 14 / 22
Table of Contents
1 Historical background
2 Important mathematical objects and results
3 Proof on the correctness of RSA
4 A real life example using RSA
5 Present and future of RSA
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 15 / 22
A real life example using RSA
We will provide three examples in this section. The first example will
demonstrate how to prepare for encoding and decoding by constructing
the public and private key. The second and third example will demonstrate
the encoding and decoding itself with a concrete example. Let us create
the string “number theory is cool”.
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 16 / 22
Preparation
Example
Step 1: Let p = 7901, q = 7907, where both p, q are prime and
m = pq = 62473207.
Step 2: φ(62473207) = (7900)(7906) = 62457400. Then we choose
k = 39 such that gcd(39, 62457400) = 1.
Step 3: Announce that m = 62473207, k = 39, but keep p, q private.
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 17 / 22
Encoding Example
Example
Step 1: We convert “number theory is cool” into
142113251820851518259193151512 based on the table above.
Step 2: We break the string into
a1 = 14211325, a2 = 18208515, a3 = 18259193, a4 = 151512.
Step 3: Use successive squaring to calculate b1 ≡ 1421132539
(mod 62473207), b2 ≡ 1820851539
(mod 62473207), b3 ≡ 1825919339 (mod 62473207), b4 ≡ 15151239
(mod 62473207)
Step 4: We send out the message
b1 = 39362208, b2 = 12824021, b3 = 55858704, b4 = 13591790.
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 18 / 22
Decoding Example
Example
This example will apply algorithm 2.3.
Step 1: Compute φ(62473207) = (7900)(7906) = 62457400.
Step 2: Solve a139 ≡ 39362208 (mod 62473207), a239 ≡ 12824021
(mod 62473207), a339 ≡ 55858704 (mod 62473207), a439 ≡ 13591790
(mod 62473207) using successive squaring.
Step 3: Obtain
a1 = 14211325, a2 = 18208515, a3 = 18259193, a4 = 151512.
Step 4: Combine the strings together we get
142113251820851518259193151512, which corresponds to “number
theory is cool”.
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 19 / 22
Table of Contents
1 Historical background
2 Important mathematical objects and results
3 Proof on the correctness of RSA
4 A real life example using RSA
5 Present and future of RSA
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Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 20 / 22
Present of RSA
The RSA algorithm is considered to be “unbreakable” for classical
computers. Let us assume that you have the value of the public keys m, k,
but not the value of private keys p, q. In order to decode the message, you
are required to find the value of φ(m) then plug it into the algorithm. We
know that we can obtain φ(m) by:
φ(m) = φ(p)φ(q) = (p − 1)(q − 1) = pq − (p + q) + 1
Finding the value of p + q is equivalent to determining the value of p, q,
since they are simply the solution of the following quadratic equation:
X 2 − (p + q)X + m = 0
Hence the problem is converted into finding the prime factors p and q of
m. This is a extremely time consuming process for large m with over 100
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digits even for the most powerful computers nowadays.
Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 21 / 22
Future of RSA
The RSA cryptosystem has been applied throughout various industries, in
particular the technology sector. RSA is extremely useful when data is
transmitted to a complete stranger. As a result of that, RSA is widely
used in web browsers, chat applications, email encryptions, VPNs, and so
on. The rise of quantum computers has brought out questions regarding
the security of RSA, since quantum computers could outperform classical
computers significantly in such computations that involving finding factors
of a very large number. Based on the paper “Quantum Computers,
Factoring, and Decoherence”, quantum computers can find the factors of
a L-digit number in ∼ L2 time, which is a huge improvement. [3] New
cryptosystems and algorithms are constantly being researched and
developed to adapt to the fast-changing technology. Some common
hacking approaches are further discussed in “Twenty Years of Attacks on
the RSA Cryptosystem” by Dan Boneh. [4] uoft.png
Li, Zhengyu (Brian) (UTM) The RSA Cryptosystem and Number Theory December 2020 22 / 22
Joseph H Silverman.
A friendly introduction to number theory.
Am Math Compet, 10:12, 2006.
Maria D Kelly.
The rsa algorithm: A mathematical history of the ubiquitous
cryptological algorithm.
2009.
Isaac L Chuang, Raymond Laflamme, Peter W Shor, and Wojciech H
Zurek.
Quantum computers, factoring, and decoherence.
Science, 270(5242):1633–1635, 1995.
Dan Boneh et al.
Twenty years of attacks on the rsa cryptosystem.
Notices of the AMS, 46(2):203–213, 1999.
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