A REALLY Tough Math Problem

[Alphanos]

Given the following algorithm...

Private Sub InitCrypt()
       Dim i As Long
       Dim i2 As Long
       Dim TempNum As Long
       
       TotalASCII = 0 ' a module-level long variable
       ThreadNum = 0 ' a module-level long variable
       
       For i = 0 To (PassLength - 1)
              Rnd -1
              Randomize (bytPassword(i) * (1 + (i * 0.5)))
              TempNum = (Rnd * 10000) * (1+ (i * 0.5))
              i2 = i2 + TempNum
       Next i
       TotalASCII = i2 \ 8 \ PassLength
       
       ThreadNum = (TotalASCII * 0.5) + (PassLength * 2)
       
       ReDim Threads(1 To ThreadNum) As Long
       
       i2 = TotalASCII \ 8 \ PassLength
       
       Rnd -1
       Randomize TotalASCII
       
       For i = 1 To ThreadNum
              Threads(i) = (i * i2 * ((Rnd * 100) And 127)) + TotalASCII
       Next i
       
       Threads(1) = (Threads(1) + lngPrimes(Threads(ThreadNum) And 255)) And 255
       For i = 1 To (ThreadNum - 1)
            Threads(i + 1) = (Threads(i + 1) + lngPrimes(Threads(i) And 255)) And 255
       Next i
End Sub

Find two bytPassword arrays that will
-generate the same ThreadNum
-generate at least 50% of the same values in the Threads array

Additional info:
-this is for an encryption algorithm
-bytPassword is simply a byte array of the ascii codes in the password
-PassLength is the ubound of bytPassword +1
-lngPrimes is an array containing the first 256 prime numbers (0 to 255). That starts at 1, then 2, 3, 5, etc.
-bytPassword should contain 4-128 elements
-at least one of the two bytPassword arrays found to be equal should be composed of characters that people would normally type, if possible.

Good luck.

[Alphanos]

*BUMP*

[da_silvy]

hmm..

this seems similar to a famous encryption?

am i warm or arctic?

[Alphanos]

I don't know. If it is, its purely coincidental, I wrote it myself. So if you can (or can't) crack it, I'd like to know.

[Alphanos]

LOL @ da_silvy, >4000 posts and a "Newbie Member".

[da_silvy]

so you want me to nut it out?

not using computer to just run thru all the possibilities?

we'll see

[Alphanos]

LOL, I think using a computer would be kinda necessary to figure it out (if there is a solution), unless you happen to know exactly how VB's random number generator works.