Secrets and Lies by Bruce Schneier, John Wiley, £19.50, ISBN
0471253111
AN EXCEPTIONAL amount of disinformation plagues the world of information
security. For decades spies obstructed the “proliferation” of cryptographic and
security know-how. This made their job of snooping far easier.
When in 1993 I tried to organise a research programme in computer security,
cryptography and coding theory, a spook in a suit approached the institute
involved. He told the director that “There’s nothing interesting happening in
cryptography, and Her Majesty’s government would like this state of affairs to
continue.” To his great credit, the director spilled the beans; the institute’s…
