Unbreakable? (fwd)

[Sean McGrath]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 15:49:51 -0500
From: R. A. Hettinga <rah at shipwright.com>
To: Digital Bearer Settlement List <dbs at philodox.com>, dcsb at ai.mit.edu
Subject: Unbreakable?

http://www.idg.net/crd_idgsearch_1.html?url=http://www.cio.com/archive/020102/et_development.html

UNDER DEVELOPMENT
Encryption
Unbreakable?

AS MYSTICS SEARCH for the lost island of Atlantis and UFO buffs seek out
alien spacecraft, cryptologists are continuing their own quest to create an
unbreakable code.

Michael Rabin, a Harvard University computer science professor, believes he
has moved cryptology a step closer to its Holy Grail by developing a code
that's undecipherable, even by those who have access to both the cypher
text and unlimited computing power.


Advertisers

Rabin's Hyper-Encryption technology, which uses a device that quickly
generates a deluge of random bits, relies on both time and money to thwart
even the most dedicated code breaker. A coded message would be hidden
within the bits "like raisins in a pudding," quips Rabin. While anyone can
read the random bits, the transmission rate is so high that storing all of
the stream for analysis would be either technically unfeasible or cost
prohibitive.

Hyper-Encryption has sparked the interest of several U.S. government
agencies, says Rabin. He also claims to have received inquiries from some
wealthy investors and at least one major venture capital fund. But Rabin
states he's not currently interested in the technology's commercial
potential. "Right now, commerce comes second to science," he says.

Hyper-Encryption, however, is not entirely trouble free. The chief concern
is cost, since the technology requires users to send continuous, intense
streams of high-speed data across already bandwidth-starved networks.
Rabin's solution is to create a dedicated global satellite system. "The
cost could be shared by its users," he says. In any case, Hyper-Encryption
is designed to safeguard highest-level government secrets, not routine
commercial and personal transmissions. "It's most appropriate for
protecting national interests and large sums of money," says Rabin.

Although Hyper-Encryption exists only on the blackboard, Rabin maintains
that the technology is ready for use. "There's mathematical proof the
Hyper-Encryption provides everlasting security, so there's nothing left to
do but implement it," he says.

-John Edwards

-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'





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