• Mathematicians and Theoreticians
• research in "pure" cryptography
• developing and analyzing algorithms
• Engineers and Systems researchers
• research in "applied" cryptography
• using crypto to implement secure systems and secure network protocols

For example,

• A lack of strong cryptography exacerbates security problems on the Internet
• password sniffing
• session hijacking
• defeating authentication
• info warfare concerns
• We want to improve Internet security
• Internet commerce will require solutions that resist fraud

• American researchers cannot communicate with international colleagues
• American researchers cannot publish their results on the Internet
• American researchers are stifled when conducting research in important areas

Researchers cannot discuss their work or collaborate with international colleagues.

• International Protocol Security effort
• Improvements to cryptographic algorithms
• In each case, researchers in the US cannot contribute very much
• "Technical Assistance" provisions make it illegal to give help to international colleagues

• Peer review is an especially important part of pure and applied cryptographic research and products
• Dan Bernstein: denied the ability to publish his new encryption algorithm
• PGP: could not make their software freely available for review on the Internet

The restrictions on publication of work done in the US frustrate American researchers.

• Americans cannot publish cryptography on the Internet
• Cryptography research is left to the non-Americans who happen to be outside of the US
• Non-Americans (including myself) can leave the US, do crypto-related wprk out of the country, and publish it on the Internet (from a foreign site) before returning

• The Internet has many security problems
• Researchers face barriers when they try to solve those problems
• Some researchers don't bother investigating these important problems, because they would not be allowed to make their work widely available

This document is a reproduction of slides prepared by Ian Goldberg for a presentation on August 1, 1997.