Re: Any truth to rumor that NSA had Public Key Crypto first?

From: Damian Menscher (menscher+crypt_at_uiuc.edu)
Date: 09/28/04 

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 20:38:32 +0000 (UTC)

Bill Unruh <unruh@string.physics.ubc.ca> wrote:
> The NSA mathematicians are ordinary people, no different from the ones that
> inhabit University Math departments. They work in a highly secret
> environment with huge bureacracies and secrecy standards which severely
> inhibit the free exchange of ideas, information etc. They have spent a lot
> of time on the subject and have a large amount of accumulated expertise.
> It would not surprise me at all if the outside community were ahead of NSA
> now in a number of areas.

It wouldn't? It would certainly surprise me if the NSA wasn't
capable of reading the literature.

Yes, the public might be caught up with the NSA. But I don't think
it's possible to be ahead.

Damian Menscher 

-- 
-=#| Physics Grad Student & SysAdmin @ U Illinois Urbana-Champaign |#=-
-=#| 488 LLP, 1110 W. Green St, Urbana, IL 61801 Ofc:(217)333-0038 |#=-
-=#| 4602 Beckman, VMIL/MS, Imaging Technology Group:(217)244-3074 |#=-
-=#| <menscher@uiuc.edu> www.uiuc.edu/~menscher/ Fax:(217)333-9819 |#=-
-=#| The above opinions are not necessarily those of my employers. |#=-