8

I've seen the following (alleged) quotation on this site and other places:-

If you can make random numbers, you can have a private conversation.

-Whitfield Diffie.

Yet we (Google & me) can't find an original source for it. Can anyone point me to the original publication/talk/presentation? Or is it just folklore?

Paul Uszak
  • 15,390
  • 2
  • 28
  • 77

1 Answers1

3

That quote is an offhand comment that Whitfield Diffie made during a lecture that was, and perhaps still is, on YouTube. It is accurate.

A similar quote can be found in the YouTube video entitled "Stanford Seminar- Cryptography and Security: The View from 2016". It begins around 29:30.

Whitfield Diffie said:

"If you can manufacture good keys, you can have secure cryptography. You might have to manufacture a lot of key, what's called one-time material... it is logically possible to have secure cryptography if you can make secure keys..."

Patriot
  • 3,132
  • 3
  • 18
  • 65