SECURING

The evolution of Notes RSA key sizes
Due to export restrictions, Notes ID files have always contained two RSA key pairs, one for "Domestic" use, and one for "International" use. The domestic key was used when domestic versions of Notes communicated with each other, and the weaker international keys were used when an international version of Notes is involved. Signing was an exception, as the export restrictions primarily applied to keys used to provide secrecy for user-generated data. The International keys have been obsolete since the US Government eliminated the export restrictions in the 5.0.3 timeframe. Since clients and servers before R6 cannot interoperate with users with 1024+ bit RSA keys, we could safely eliminate the international key pair from those ID files with larger RSA keys. Due to the storage formats used in the ID file, both the domestic and the international keys point to the same key pair.
* RSA Keys over 630 bits must be BER-formatted.

** V4 and R5 do not support BER-formatted keys.

*** Since keys between 630 and 760 bits in length have never been used, this distinction is mostly academic.

Parent topic: History of supported key sizes in Notes and Domino