FAQ: Why require passwords?

By Chris Caldwell

Question: Why do we require passwords and verifiable e-mail addresses from provers seeking to submit primes?

When have been forced to add additional security measures because several individual have purposefully submitted false primes, and some have done this using other peoples names. On the Internet we often call this "spoofing." In academic fields we usually call it fraud. A couple of the individuals doing it called it "a joke." Whichever name we use, in order to keep the List of Largest Known primes a valuable source for researchers and a reliable source for amateurs, we are increasing security.

We at the Prime Pages thank the 100's of honest individuals which make these pages possible by finding all of those new primes each week. Please keep them coming!