# Mathematical Basis of OAuth Encryption

There are numerous explanations of the common public-private key system available online, explaining how large primes are used to encrypt messages. Is there any similar guide to the mathematics of OAuth 1.0a? Searching for mathematical basis of oauth only gives mostly explanations of the OAuth login workflow, or random pages about security and OAuth.

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Can you be more specific, what part of the specification this question refers to? – Hagen von Eitzen Feb 3 '13 at 21:33
@HagenvonEitzen Most of what's on the internet is either too technical like that specification, or a basic broad overview of what OAuth is. RSA for example has many mathematical explanations similar to this: sagemath.org/doc/thematic_tutorials/numtheory_rsa.html Is the reason there is no similar explanation of OAuth because it is too complicated, or because the protocol is relatively new? – NoBugs Feb 3 '13 at 21:45
An authentication protocol can (and should) be verified mathematically, but it isn't easy to do. For examples look at Anderson's "Security engineering" <cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/book.html>; – vonbrand Feb 4 '13 at 2:45
Does that book have a section on OAuth? – NoBugs Feb 4 '13 at 2:49
@vonbrand that page is not found. – NoBugs Jan 26 '14 at 2:26