I agree with you on some of this. Yes, A 4096 RSA key would take a very long time to crack. I doubt that Mitnick used that strong of encryption. If I were to guess I would say it was around 1024. If I remember correctly 512 bit has been cracked using distributed computing in a matter of weeks. With the government super computers I think they _could_ most likely crack a 1024 bit key in five years. I don't see how they couldn't really. Maybe it's the X-files episodes talking, but I believe that there are only three possibilities: 1) They have cracked his key and they don't want us to know. Why you ask? To make us (as well as other countries) feel all warm and fuzzy about using the 128 bit on the net and in Windows 2000. Possibly to make a public outcry against "the evil hackers" who use strong encryption. Since no one bought that only Drug dealers and child pornographers were using it they had to have a new scapegoat. 2) They knew all along that Mitnick was never a real threat to them. They simply didn't dedicate the resources necessary to crack the key. 3) He _did_ use a huge key as large as 4096 bit and they can't break it.