Fermat’s Little Theorem Became The Core of Security on the Internet
Let’s bet …
In cryptography we love prime numbers and the mod operator. So let’s take a bet. I think I can predict your answer. First select a number from the following:
2,4,6,9,10,12,14,15,16,18,20,21,22,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,32,33,34,35,36
and next select a number from this list:
2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19,23,29,31,37,41,43,47,53,59,61,67,71,73,79,83,89,97
Okay. The arithmatic may be a bit difficult if you select one of the larger ones … but go ahead and pick two values.
Have you done it?
Okay … next take the first value and raise it to the power of the second value minus 1 (you may need a calculator for it). So if you select 4 from the first list and 5 from the second, it will be 4 to the power of 4 which should give 256.
Next take the result of the remainder of a divide by the second number. If we have 256 then we divide by 5 to give 51 remainder 1 (so the answer is the remainder, which is 1 — keep that a secret).
Okay .. you might need the mod button on your calculator, but have you done that?
Now do you want to take a bet I can predict your answer?
Now I think your answer is … mmmm … it’s tough … but I think is less than 10? Is that right? Well … from the look on your face …. I think it is one!
