- Compute fundamental units $u_1, u_2 \in \mathcal{O}_K^\times$.
- Use Hilbert's Theorem 90 to construct $c \in K^\times$ such that $$ c \cdot \sigma(c) = u_i, $$$$ u_i = \frac{c}{\sigma(c)}, $$ for a generator $\sigma \in \mathrm{Gal}(K/\mathbb{Q})$.
- We expect that the norm $N_{K/\mathbb{Q}}(c)$ is nontrivially related to the factorization of $N$, so that a factor can be recovered via a gcd computation.