(Note on Names of Threads: I've changed the name of this thread from "questions" to something a bit more descriptive. I urge all of you to try to pick thread names with some care, as the thread name is what gets seen over and over again. I've been sorting some of the 80 MB of mail on my optical disk and I'm chagrinned to see just how many threads are titled "Re: your mail," "more questions," "mail," and even "huh?" Not to mention the recent long debate about telscope optics that was named something completely unrelated like "IRC prt 25 disabled?" or somesuch. Take the initiative! Pick meaningful titles!) Agent Orange defoliated us with:

I am currently getting together resources for a research paper on the growth of encryption systems, from enigma to present day. Part of the paper will examine the direction taken by encryption schemes in the future (with particular reference to the likely acceleration of computing power, greater need for personal privacy, etc etc)

Yeah, well there have been some excellent histories already written, so you may want to save yourself some trouble and simply located them. Is this paper for a class, or for whom? I especially recommend Whit Diffie's review and history of crypto, reprinted in the readily-avialable collection, "Contemporary Cryptology," edited by Gus Simmons. Diffie was there, as they say, and has some fascinationg perspectives. He's also talked extensively to Don Coppersmith of IBM, about DES, and has some insights into the compromises made. (Coppersmith acknowledges in the new Shamir-Biham book on differential cryptanalysis that IBM knew of Diff Crypt. in the early 70s when the S-boxes and key size were being finalized. He would not tell S & B if IBM or himself knew of other attacks.) There are also magazine-type reviews in "IEEE Spectrum" and "Communications of the ACM," circa 1992-3. "Proceedings of the IEEE" also has devoted at least one recent issue to crypto, including some historical overviews. (I think this was circa 1990, give or take. I can't remotely access "Current Contents" at melvyl@ucop.edu right now, so this'll have to do.)

The paper will be written from the viewpoint of an encryption-aware programmer, rather than that of an expert cryptanalyst! Plenty of example code and practical applications will form the backbone of this study, not pages of mathematics.

What's wrong with pointing your readers at Schneier? This has become the de facto standard, and the extensive review and scrutiny of his code ensures more accuracy than most of us could get casusally. As they say, "Use the Force...read the source."

Are there any papers currently circulating dealing with the future of encryption? Has anyone else on this list already investigated this area, I'd appreciate any information you can submit (ftp addrs?), via this mailing list or private email if you wish.

Nick

Many such papers, though we on this very list (I say modestly) are some of the best forward-thinkers to be found. Sci.crypt also has some stuff, but I think not as good as our own predicitons and speculations. Of course, the best way to see the technical aspects of the future (and a method I favor) is to scan the contents of the various "Crypto Conferences," in the Springer-Verlag series on "Advances in Cryptoology," "EuroCrypt," "AusCrypt," etc. If anyone out there is unaware of these volumes, you owe it to yourself to go to a nearby technical library and look them up. A few hours spent reading about amazing new protocols will open your eyes. --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. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."