INFLUENCESOFCRYPTOLOGYONCULTURE.docVIP

Influences of cryptology on culture By Russell C. Dillenburg A final project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course: CS 233 DePaul University 2004 1.1 Introduction Since the beginning of civilization man has devised systems of hiding communication from the enemy. Businesses need to protect sensitive trade secrets, illegal businesses hide information from law enforcement, and law enforcement needs to decipher those messages in order to bring the “evil-doers” to justice. You come in contact with cryptology every day, when you pay your taxes, shop online, or go to work. In the United States, during the prohibition era people have devised methods of smuggling alcohol into the country. How did they communicate with each other so that the government agents had no idea alcohol was involved? What methods did the government agents use to “crack their codes”? Cryptology has influenced many engineers to build devices such as scramblers and de-scramblers for telephones and television, automated teller machines (ATM), fiber optics, and E-Commerce. 2.1 Cryptology in Literature What caused such an interest in cryptology? Several pieces of literature are responsible for stirring up interest in cryptology. Authors like Edgar Allen Poe, “quote the raven, ‘nevermore’”, Shakespeare, and William Gibson are among three who have shown an interest in cryptology. Finally, how close is Gibson’s Neuromancer to the current hit movie trilogy of today, The Matrix, or the lesser-known Dark City. It is my hypothesis that the interest in cryptography has grown into the subculture of computer hacking. 2.1.1 Edgar Allen Poe Good old Ed Poe and his interest in cryptography and literature is responsible for awakening the cryptographic imagination inside of people with his literary piece The Gold-bug. Gibson’s Neuromancer “turns out to have deep roots in Poe’s treatment of technology” (Rosenheim 108). The Matrix, Hackers, Dark City and several others appea