You know the people who could break DES, RSA, PGP, etc. Shamir unpacked Diffie's knapsack. What is most probable, is that these ciphers will stand for some unforeseeable time until someone who may not be born yet comes along and breaks them all as an idle {exercise on her way to greatness in another field.
But the NSA? No way, Jose. They might be nerds who hacked some code at 3 am. But you put them on a salary and benefits in a pyramid, then tell them not to talk about their work, and you thwart whatever creativity they had. The NSA can kill you. But t({they can never out-think you.
Strong words that, IMHO, put way too much faith in the argument that a "restrictive" work environment inevitably crushes individualism and creativity. Any organization, .gov or !.gov, that: * recruits the best and the brightest and pays them well; * gives access to substantial computing/financial resources and academic knowledge; * fosters team-building, creativity, and competition *within the group*; * rewards achievement and provides status *within the group*; and * provides other movitivation, be it patriotism/pride/whatever, will produce more than its fair share of advances in a field. Given a concentrated environment and an advanced set of tools, it seems improbable that any group, regardless of organizational affiliation, could be outperformed *on an evolutionary basis* by a loose band of academicians and private researchers with irregular contact. Revolutionary change is impossible to predict, though I feel that no organization with sufficient resources would throw away promising methods without thorough investigation. Even so, I do personally believe that private individuals may have an edge in revolutionary research. Unfortunately, both statements are unverifiable. The key point to remember is that motivation is relative - regardless of our personal opinions, if someone seeks status within a group then more "restrictive" environments are not a hindrance to creativity. -- Best regards, Curtis D. Frye cfrye@ciis.mitre.org "If you think I speak for MITRE, I'll tell you how much they pay me and make you feel foolish."