Safe prime

A kind of number

About Safe prime

A safe prime is a prime p of the form p = 2q+1 where q is also prime (q is then a Sophie Germain prime). So 5, 7, 11, 23, 47, 59, … are safe primes.

Key features

  • The first few are 5, 7, 11, 23, 47, 59, 83, 107.
  • Used in cryptography because of the structure of the group of units mod p.

Examples:

5, 7, 11, 23, 47, 59, 83, 107

Further reading