"The last characteristic which we note in the history of cryptography is the division between amateur and professional cryptographers. Skill in production cryptanalysis has always been heavily on the side of the professionals, but innovation, particularly in the design of new types of cryptographic systems, has come primarily from the amateurs."
— Whitfield Diffie and Martin E. Hellman (New Directions in Cryptography, 1976)
#cryptography #innovation #amateur #freedom
npub1jt…s2uhv
2026-08-20 01:19:39 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1jtjd0g3x69hr5n7vmsy75v2zw6l6quxmxc78ykssgrm8kncptsmqqs2uhvSeen on
wss://nos.lolPublished at
2026-08-20 01:19:39 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "95e4fde1bc0a637d6b2c08e67e525c60878a89c12963d245e56e79dc97332899",
"pubkey": "92e4d7a226d16e3a4fccdc09ea314276bfa070db363c725a1040f67b4f015c36",
"created_at": 1787188779,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"t",
"cryptography"
],
[
"t",
"innovation"
],
[
"t",
"amateur"
],
[
"t",
"freedom"
],
[
"t",
"whitfielddiffieandmartine.hellman"
],
[
"quote_id",
"diffie-hellman-002"
],
[
"client",
"Cypherpunk Quotes Bot"
]
],
"content": "\"The last characteristic which we note in the history of cryptography is the division between amateur and professional cryptographers. Skill in production cryptanalysis has always been heavily on the side of the professionals, but innovation, particularly in the design of new types of cryptographic systems, has come primarily from the amateurs.\"\n\n— Whitfield Diffie and Martin E. Hellman (New Directions in Cryptography, 1976)\n\n#cryptography #innovation #amateur #freedom",
"sig": "d078599fcb99163fe9d5b71ac07ca40a8f484c6bd0118a7ada7ba38cf800f48b012e82317951d6f0d88351669930e756d3a6220f6b1ebe50c39f2ddec3479690"
}