ample of two extremes on a spectrum. Encryption is a wonderful and powerful tool when trustworthy people use it in an appropriate manner. If the tool falls into the wrong hands, it becomes less wonderful and more powerful. So what are the wrong hands and what should be done about it? Many corporations from the technology industry and organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) say nothing should be done about it. Americans have the right to privacy and encryption can provide that. On the other sided of the controversy, the Clinton Administration wants to secure access to all encryption keys so any encrypted communication can be intercepted, which will ensure social welfare. Governmental involvement in the use of encryption is a controversial issue. Throughout history, Governmental Agencies have interfered with the development and implementation of surveillance technology; this behavior may foreshadow future involvement with encryption. The debate of the Government’s involvement is ongoing with valid points on both sides. In order to fairly evaluate both arguments, one must first understand cryptography and it’s history of development.CryptographyAn Attempt For PrivacyAccording to the Newton’s Telecom Dictionary, cryptography is, “the process of concealing the contents of a message from all except those who know the key,” (207). It is also defined as “. . . the science, or art, of secret writing,” (Huffman 2). The word “cryptography” originated in Greece: Crypto means hidden and Graphia means writing. The use of cryptography is dated back to the days of Julius Caesar when a method referred to as “Caesar Cipher” was used. The system used the third letter of the alphabet beyond the targeted letter to replace each letter of an encrypted message. The word “hello” encrypted with Caesar Cipher would be scrambled to read “khoor,” (Huffman ...
