IP: Re: More on the Harvard unbreakable encryption

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 18:31:04 -0500
> To: farber () cis upenn edu
> From: Steve Crocker <steve () stevecrocker com>
>
>
> The comments on the Harvard unbreakable encryption scheme are delightful
> and informative.  One minor detail caught my eye.
>
> > Three, this scheme will never be used. Launching satellites gets
> > cheaper all the time, but why would someone have them broadcast
> > random numbers when they could be doing something useful
> > instead?
>
> Satellites are multi-purpose vehicles.  Think of a satellite as a bus with
> multiple applications ("payloads") on it.  The incremental cost of a random
> number generator and transmitter is probably fairly low.  If there ever
> were a satellite which spewed out random numbers, it would almost certainly
> have significant other functions.  This doesn't change any of the rest of
> the analysis.
>
> Steve



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