Erwann ABALEA wrote:

> Notice that you used the -sign argument, to *sign* your data. Therefore,
> it *seems* to be encrypted (i.e. you can see garbage in your data.enc
> file).

Yes, I know I use method meant for signatures only...  That is
exactly why I'm asking if it is secure for encryption or not,
since it is not self-evident, nor clear from any documents I've
found.

(I'm not actually sure if you indirectly answered this question in
your reply, as unfortunately I don't have time to dig into crytography
theory.  That is why I'm asking this question here on the list, and
hoping to get a yes/no-type answer.  Sorry if I sound dumb ;).

> In your design, the method used won't be
> the same, in the sense that the modulus is not known, and the public
> exponent is known (if you generate the key with the above procedure).
> Therefore the way to obtain the public key is to get the modulus. I don't
> personally know any method to get the modulus from the plain text and
it's
> associated cipher text other than 'hacking' the recipients.

Ok, thanks.  Does anybody here know more, or could give educated
guess based on their mathematical knowledge about RSA crypto?

Thank you, this has been most helpful reply this far.  Seems like I
asked a difficult (or difficult to understand?) question... :-)  Ok,
let's forget my practical application, and ask a purely theoretical
question:

"How easy or difficult it is to decrypt RSA private key encrypted
data (or even discover the correct public key) without having the
corresponding public key?  The key used is generic 2048b RSA key."


--
Ari Hyttinen
Patria Ailon
GSM: +358-50-3415081
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]


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