Whitfield Diffie

Bailey Whitfield 'Whit' Diffie (born June 5 1944) is a US cryptographer and one of the pioneers of public-key cryptography.

Related Topics:
June 5 - 1944 - US - Cryptographer - Public-key cryptography

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He received a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965.

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Bachelor of Science - Mathematics - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - 1965

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Diffie and Martin Hellman's paper New Directions in Cryptography was published in 1976. It introduced a radically new method of distributing cryptographic keys, which went far toward solving one of the fundamental problems of cryptography, key distribution. It has become known as Diffie-Hellman key exchange. The article also seems to have stimulated the almost immediate public development of a new class of encryption algorithms, the asymmetric key algorithms.

Related Topics:
Martin Hellman - New Directions in Cryptography - 1976 - Cryptographic - Diffie-Hellman key exchange - Asymmetric key algorithm

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Diffie was Manager of Secure Systems Research for Northern Telecom, where he designed the key management architecture for the PDSO security system for X.25 networks.

Related Topics:
Northern Telecom - PDSO - X.25

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In 1991 he joined Sun Microsystems' SunLabs-West research facility (in Mountain View, California) as a Distinguished Engineer, working primarily on public policy aspects of cryptography. As of January 2004 Diffie remains with Sun, serving as its Chief Security Officer, and as a Vice President and Sun Fellow.

Related Topics:
1991 - Sun Microsystems - Mountain View, California - Engineer - 2004

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In 1992 he was awarded a Doctorate in Technical Sciences (Honoris Causa) by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He is also a fellow of the Marconi Foundation and has received various awards from other organisations.

Related Topics:
1992 - Doctorate - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Marconi Foundation

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Diffie and Susan Landau's book Privacy on the Line was published in 1998 on the politics of wiretapping and encryption.

Related Topics:
Susan Landau - Privacy on the Line - 1998

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