encryption techniques

A Swiss-led international team of mathematicians has broken a long-standing record in an impressive feat of calculation.On March 6, computer clusters from three institutions -- the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, the University of Bonn and Japan`s NTT Corp. -- reached the end of 11 months of calculation.The scientists explained information is encrypted using a large composite number, usually 1,024 bits in size, created by multiplying two 150-or-so digit prime numbers. Only someone who knows those two numbers can read the message. Because there`s an infinite supply of large prime numbers, it`s easy to create unique keys. Information encrypted this way is secure, because no one has been able to factor these huge numbers.