Cryptology ePrint Archive: Report 2016/961

Our chosen prime $p$ looks random, and $p-1$ has a 160-bit prime factor, in line with recommended parameters for the Digital Signature Algorithm. However, our $p$ has been trapdoored in such a way that the special number field sieve can be used to compute discrete logarithms in $\mathbb{F}_p^*$, yet detecting that $p$ has this trapdoor seems out of reach. Twenty-five years ago, there was considerable controversy around the possibility of backdoored parameters for DSA. Our computations show that trapdoored primes are entirely feasible with current computing technology. We also describe special number field sieve discrete log computations carried out for multiple weak primes found in use in the wild.