ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Illegal prime

Ok kiddo, so have you ever heard of numbers called "prime numbers"? They're like special numbers that can only be divided by 1 or itself, and they're used a lot in math.

Well, an "illegal prime" is a special kind of prime number that is illegal to possess or share in some countries, and that's because that prime number can be used to break the law or do something bad.

Let me give you an example: imagine there's a prime number that's so big, it has more than 1 million digits! This number is so huge that it was discovered by a computer program, not by a person. But this special number can also be used to crack secure codes or unlock encrypted files, and that's why some governments have made it illegal to possess or share that number.

So you see, even a simple thing like a prime number can have important consequences, and we need to be careful with how we use it. That's why some numbers are deemed "illegal primes" and can get people into trouble if they're caught with them.