Abstract:

One would assume that during the French and American wars in Vietnam, the impoverished guerrillas of the Viet Minh and NLF must have been badly outmatched on the purely technical side of warfare, including cryptography. However, the truth was more complex. In joint work with Phan Duong Hieu (of Limoges, France) we investigate the strengths and weaknesses of all sides in communications intelligence.

Bio:

Neal Koblitz received his B.A. degree from Harvard University in 1969 and his Ph.D. degree from Princeton University in 1974. He is currently a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Washington, and the author of six books, most recently "Random Curves: Journeys of a Mathematician". He is the creator of hyperelliptic curve cryptography and the independent co-creator of elliptic curve cryptography.