> > I know nothing about the RSA algorithm
RSA doesn't encrypt, it's a public key algorithm, you would use the
derived key to init the DES or TEA or RC4 or whatever cipher system, and
then use the cipher system to do the encryption. I happened to have this
'white-email' floating around for Diffie-Hellman, which is similar to RSA:

---

The hosts agree on two numbers, n and g. n is a large prime number
(typically 512 bits), such that (n/2)-1 is also prime. g should be
primitive mod n and is usually quite small (4-8 bits). These numbers can
be hardcoded.

Host A chooses a random integer x (twice as long as n), calculates X=g^x
mod n, and sends X to host B.

Host B also chooses a random integer y (twice as long as n), calculates
Y=g^y mod n, and sends Y to host A.

Host A calculates k = Y^x mod n, and host B calculates k = X^y mod n. The
results are identical. Derivation of k is extremely difficult for an
observer who knows only n, g, X, and Y.

Finally, the hosts use k to initialize their respective cipher systems to
identical states.

---

> On the page is this example in PERL
>
> print pack"C*",split/\D+/,`echo"16iII*o\U@{$/=$z;[(pop,pop,unpack"H*",
> <>)]}\EsMsKsN0[lN*1lK[d2%Sa2/d0<X+d*l MLa^*lN%0]dsXx++lMlN/ds
> M0<J]dsJxp"|dc`
No magic here. Note the "|dc" at the end, this is just an obtuse way of
piping a huge ugly expression into the program 'dc' (desktop calculator);
dc does the actual arithmetic.

Best recommendation I can make is 'Applied Cryptography' by Bruce
Schneier. Not terribly technical and has lots of C source.

== Rich

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