New Factorization Record!

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne have factored, among other Mersenne numbers, 2¹¹⁹³-1, a record.

Mersenne numbers are easier to factor than the primes used in RSA encryption, but the newly factored numbers are comparable in size to the 1024-bit numbers currently keeping your online transactions secure.

The Swiss team used a "factorization factory" that attacks multiple target numbers at once.