1024 bit DSA vs 2048 bit RSA
 

The man page for ssh-keygen mentions that DSA keys can only be 1024 bits where as RSA can be as long as 2048. At first glance, this makes RSA keys look more secure.

Is there any reason why a 1024 bit DSA key is as secure or even more secure than a 2048 bit RSA key? I'm sure I'm missing something but I wondered if anyone could point me in the right direction.

Thank you.

The references to the 1024 maximum length is obsolete. That was defined in FIPS186-2, but FIPS186-3 recommends DSA keys of 2048 and 3072 sizes as well.

http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fi...fips_186-3.pdf
http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/ni...Mar08-2007.pdf

Thanks
 

Thanks, Acid, that helps a lot. I'll read the pdfs.