Re: NYT on Crypto Bills

[dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr. Dimitri Vulis)]

Adam Shostack <adam@homeport.org> writes:
> 	Markoff shouyld know better than this.  There is a long
> history of business use of codes & ciphers, going back hundereds of
> years, and durring the heyday of the telegraph, there were fair size
> companies that created codebooks with (locally configurable)
> superencipherment systems for the market.
>
> Adam
>
> John Young wrote:
>
> |    Compromise Bills Due on Data Encryption
> |       Industry Opponents and Civil Libertarians Are Lukewarm,
> |       at Best
> |    By John Markoff
>
> |    Data-coding, or encryption, technology is based on
> |    mathematical formulas that rely on the immense computing
> |    challenge inherent in factoring large numbers. Until
> |    recently, such technology was largely used by military and
> |    intelligence organizations and by some corporations like
> |    banks. As electronic mail and commerce have become
> |    increasingly accessible, however, the technology has become
> |    more controversial.
>

Yes - the Markoff quote is factually incorrect.  I'm sure he knows better
than this.  Must be the Times editing.

What he probably meant (and perhaps wrote) was that the cyphers used in
business for centuries could be broken by governments. This started
changing only after WW I. Wasn't the Enigma marketed to businesses?

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<a href="mailto:dlv@bwalk.dm.com">Dr. Dimitri Vulis</a>
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps