On the equivalence of RSA and factoring regarding generic ring algorithms

Abstract

To prove or disprove the computational equivalence of solving the RSA problem and factoring integers is a longstanding open problem in cryptography. This paper provides some evidence towards the validity of this equivalence. We show that any efficient generic ring algorithm which solves the (flexible) low-exponent RSA problem can be converted into an efficient factoring algorithm. Thus, the low-exponent RSA problem is intractable w.r.t. generic ring algorithms provided that factoring is hard. © 2006 Springer-Verlag.