[4503] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: The name of "RSA"
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert Hettinga)
Sun Apr 11 23:18:42 1999
In-Reply-To: <19990409163455.5591541F16@SIGABA.research.att.com>
Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 15:32:24 -0400
To: "Steven M. Bellovin" <smb@research.att.com>
From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
Cc: cryptography@c2.net
At 12:34 PM -0400 on 4/9/99, Steven M. Bellovin wrote:
> The claim has been made, by reputable people, that
> NSAM-160 laid the groundwork for NSA's invention of public key crypto.
> But there's nothing in the declassified portion of the memo that supports
> the claim.
I figure we should just use the initials of the person/people who developed
it first, whether they did it in secret or not. Like most cold warriors --
the folks at the Skunk Works, for example -- it's not their fault that
their work was kept secret.
It's a shame that Security Dynamics forced RSA's initials off the
algorithm, (in fact, if I were Rivest et. al., I'd be pissed, especially if
someone else with an earlier discovery is ever found), but, if SD doesn't
want people to use those initials anymore, then the initials of any earlier
independant discoverers, if any, should be used to name it.
Cheers,
RAH
-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@philodox.com>
Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.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'
