"Sneakers" and Len Adelman

[tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)]

Mats Bergstrom wrote:
> 
> 
> Speaking of hi-tech related screen fanatsy I just saw an old (1992)
> movie starring Robert Redford, Dan Akroyd and Sidney Poiters (forgot
> - or never noticed - the title) with rather 'advanced' crypto ties.
> A professor of mathematics, specialist in primes, had constructed a
> 'black box' (containing a matchbox-sized chip) that could break all
> passwords in a few seconds. Lots of other fantastic machinery also.
> And the NSA had a big part. Somehow the manuscript seems to have been
> written by an author with some understanding of the implications of
> strong crypto. An ex-starving cypherpunk??
> 

"Sneakers" was not an "old" movie..."old" is something I saw in 1960!
1992 is also the year Cypherpunks got started (Eric can elaborate, but
I think he met a lot of the "Wired" planning team at a "Sneakers"
sneak (ers) showing in San Francisco.)

In any case, Len Adelman, the "A" in "RSA," was a technical advisor in
the film. The pseudo-mathematical cant in the movie was probably
provided by him.

Not exactly an ex-starving Cypherpunk. (Adelman was also Fred Cohen's
thesis advisor at the University of Southern California, and has done
a lot of work on computer viruses.)

--Tim May

-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
Cypherpunks list: majordomo@toad.com with body message of only: 
subscribe cypherpunks. FAQ available at ftp.netcom.com in pub/tcmay