The short version
Google DeepMind’s AI agents have shown that attacking 1024‑bit RSA signatures is far cheaper than previously believed. The findings raise risk for any system still using those legacy keys.
What happened
DeepMind’s AI agents, guided by human researchers, found two ways to lower the cost of attacking 1024‑bit RSA cryptosystems, according to SecurityWeek.
The agents created a method that reduces the average cost of factoring each extra 1024‑bit key by roughly a factor of 30, although it has not been deployed yet.
The background
RSA encryption relies on the difficulty of factoring a large number made from two prime numbers; breaking that number gives the private key.
DeepMind’s work builds on earlier academic attacks and uses AI to explore the mathematics faster than humans could alone, as described by Crypto Briefing.
AI changes the tempo. The humans still steer the research, but the models do much of the heavy exploratory lifting,
Crypto Briefing
What it means for owners and operators
If your business still relies on 1024‑bit RSA for digital signatures or key exchange, the cost to forge signatures or factor keys may be within reach of well‑funded attackers.
The signature attack requires about 4 billion signing queries and fails on devices that perform internal message hashing, so certain hardware security modules could be more protected.
Batch‑factoring could let an adversary share the cost of cracking many related keys, making large‑scale compromises more attractive.
Systems using 2048‑bit or larger keys remain secure against these specific AI‑driven attacks, so upgrading key sizes mitigates the newly revealed risk.
The numbers
The AI‑driven algorithm for batch factoring makes each extra 1024‑bit key about 30 times cheaper to factor.
Even when the attacker controls only a 32‑byte hash, the new method is roughly 1,600 times better than previous approaches.
Our take
Analysis by Infercline · Who carries the risk
AI agents have cut the cost of breaking 1024‑bit RSA, so any lingering use now carries higher risk.
What to do in your business tomorrow
- Audit all systems to identify any use of 1024‑bit RSA keys for signatures or encryption.
- Plan and begin migration to 2048‑bit or larger RSA keys, or to alternative algorithms, within the next quarter.
- Review hardware security module settings to ensure they hash messages internally before signing.
Related coverage
Sources
- securityweek.com: Google DeepMind’s AI Agents Make 1024-Bit RSA Keys Cheaper to Attack
- Crypto Briefing: Google DeepMind’s AI agents expose two weaknesses in legacy 1024-bit RSA
- Interesting Engineering: 1,600x faster: Google DeepMind agents expose weaknesses in older encryption methods