An interview with Martin Hellman, Turing Award winner and co-inventor of the Diffie-Hellman key exchange algorithm. Hellman recounts the history of public-key cryptography, including his conflicts with the NSA over publishing research in international journals, the debate over DES's 56-bit key size, and the three 'crypto wars' spanning from the 1970s through the Apple-FBI iPhone dispute. He explains the mechanics of key exchange vs. digital signatures, the role of Ralph Merkle and Whitfield Diffie, and why strong encryption cannot be selectively given only to 'good guys.' He also reflects on the personal risks he faced and what drove him to persist despite opposition from colleagues and government agencies.
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