-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       
                                       
		   B O S T O N   U N I V E R S I T Y
                                       
		      Computer Science Department
                                       
			  C O L L O Q U I U M
                                       
		       Wednesday February 21, 1996
                                       
			        3:00pm 
		       (Coffee served at 2:45pm)

                                       
			 Seminar Room / MCS 135
                                       

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	  FAFNER: Factoring RSA-130 on the World-Wide Computer

			      James Cowie
		    Cooperating Systems Corporation
				    

    The FAFNER project used the World-Wide Web to organize and manage 
    contributed computational resources in the factoring of RSA 
    challenge number RSA-130.  Cryptographic security assurance (for example, 
    the RSA public-key cryptosystem) relies on an accurate assessment 
    of the global state-of-the-art in large integer factorization 
    problems.  In FAFNER, all the steps of server-server and client-server 
    coordination, from client-code download to the gathering of relations, 
    the publication of status updates, and the final result, are automated 
    and integrated through published Web pages.  I will describe the design 
    and implementation of FAFNER, and speculate about future directions 
    for metacomputing using Web clients and servers as an integrated 
    World-Wide Computer.  

Host: Prof. Marina Chen
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For colloquium info, including directions, see http://cs-www.bu.edu/colloquium
   For more information contact Prof. Mark Crovella <crovella@bu.edu>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------