Crypto history for history buffs

Von Due · 06-09-17, 05:54 PM

Many knows about modern crypto tech like RSA and the names Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman are known to some, as they are celebrated as the ones who first figured out that public key crypto could work at all. Not many know that the British GCHQ were working on it a few years before Diffie had his eureka moment, and since the GCHQ was and still is pretty hush hush, names like James Ellis, Clifford Cocks and Malcolm Williamson are not near as well known.

Cocks was allowed to give a brief summary of their work in the 90's but I just found that 2 of Ellis' original papers have been declassified as well so for crypto history buffs, here is a link to one of the (technical) papers (2nd paper currently unavailable)

https://www.gchq.gov.uk/sites/defaul..._No_3006_0.pdf

Story with both links in it
http://aperiodical.com/2016/03/gchq-...-cryptography/

06-09-17, 05:54 PM	#1
Von Due Sea Lord Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 1,690 Downloads: 30 Uploads: 0	Crypto history for history buffs Many knows about modern crypto tech like RSA and the names Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman are known to some, as they are celebrated as the ones who first figured out that public key crypto could work at all. Not many know that the British GCHQ were working on it a few years before Diffie had his eureka moment, and since the GCHQ was and still is pretty hush hush, names like James Ellis, Clifford Cocks and Malcolm Williamson are not near as well known. Cocks was allowed to give a brief summary of their work in the 90's but I just found that 2 of Ellis' original papers have been declassified as well so for crypto history buffs, here is a link to one of the (technical) papers (2nd paper currently unavailable) https://www.gchq.gov.uk/sites/defaul..._No_3006_0.pdf Story with both links in it http://aperiodical.com/2016/03/gchq-...-cryptography/