From: IN%"hoz@univel.telescan.com" 28-APR-1996 13:57:13.98

The cypherpunks relevance (Besides the David Kahn quote) is the frequent mention of NSA decrypts and SIGINT. The frequency that nations and individuals have used (and apparently continue to use) breakable encryption is incredible. The intelligence that has been derived by breaking them is worth a great deal, in dollars and maybe lives. This book has made me understand a bit, why a government might try to limit strong cryptography.

But do keep in mind that it's not just the US government that can decrypt weak cryptography. So can a lot of other governments... including ones like France and Japan that engage in a lot of commercial espionage. And ITAR restrictions have hindered the use of cryptography in the US by limiting the market for products. As has been said on here in the past, there are probably several groups within the NSA. Some think that getting the info is more important than protecting US citizens from having _their_ info stolen. Some think the reverse. And the ones in the NSA (and the rest of the US government) with darker motives (power et al) are going to be in the first group - they're not concerned with effects on US citizens. -Allen