Frank Miller (cryptologist)

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Frank Miller (born January 19, 1842 in Milwaukee , † 1925 ) studied at Yale University , was an American cryptologist and banker and lived in Sacramento . He took on the part of the northern states on the American Civil War in part and was at the Battle of Bull Run wounded. It is noteworthy that he was identified as the inventor of the One-Time-Pad (OTP) , an information-theoretically secure and demonstrably unbreakable encryption method . Gilbert Vernam was considered to be the inventor of this method for a long time , as he had applied for a patent for it in the 1920s . In fact, more than 35 years before Vernam, Frank Miller had this idea as early as 1882.

One-time pad

Columns of numbers on a one-time pad

Miller set up a code book in 1882 that provided corresponding numbers as encryption for 14,000 terms and phrases. For encoding , he suggested linking these code numbers in a second step with random numbers from a table, more precisely, adding these random numbers to the code numbers . If the addition results in a number greater than 14,000, the number 14,000 must be subtracted in order to always get a number from 1 to a maximum of 14,000 as a secret number. The numbers obtained in this way are sent as ciphertext by telegraph to the recipient of the message. The authorized recipient, who is the only one with the list of random numbers besides the sender, can then simply subtract the random numbers from the ciphertext and receive the original code groups back. The following also applies here: If a number smaller than 1 occurs during the subtraction, the value 14,000 must be added in order to always obtain a positive number. This can then be looked up in the code book and results in the original plain text . Subtraction and addition are to be understood as modulo operations with the base 14,000.

As Claude Shannon demonstrated almost 70 years later, this procedure results in perfect security and has been proven to be “unbreakable” . Today it is referred to as the one-time pad (abbreviation: OTP , German: one-time encryption). Unfortunately, Miller's "perfect" process was forgotten. It was reinvented in 1917 by Vernam and applied by Joseph Mauborgne . Until 2011 it was overlooked that it was originally invented by Frank Miller.

literature

  • Steven M. Bellovin: Frank Miller - Inventor of the One-Time Pad . Cryptologia . Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia PA 35.2011,3 (July), pp. 203-22. ISSN  0161-1194 .
  • Dirk Rijmenants: The Complete Guide to Secure Communications with the One Time Pad Cipher Cipher Machines & Cryptology, 2010 ( PDF; 0.2 MB ). Retrieved January 13, 2016.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Frank Elliott Myers: Defenders of the Union. Volume 27, Issue 160, Apr 1896, pp. 434-462. Making of America Journal Articles . Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  2. ^ Steven M. Bellovin: Frank Miller - Inventor of the One-Time Pad . Cryptologia. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia PA 35.2011,3 (July), pp. 203-222. ISSN  0161-1194 .
  3. ^ Claude E. Shannon: Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems. In: Bell System Technical Journal. Volume 28, October 1949, pp. 656–715, online at Netlab.cs.UCLA.edu, accessed on January 31, 2017 (PDF; 563 kB).
  4. ^ Dirk Rijmenants: The Complete Guide to Secure Communications with the One Time Pad Cipher. Cipher Machines & Cryptology, Edition 7.4, January 22, 2016, p. 26, online at Users.Telenet.be, accessed on January 31, 2017 (PDF; 209 kB).
personal data
SURNAME Miller, Frank
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American cryptologist
DATE OF BIRTH January 19, 1842
PLACE OF BIRTH Milwaukee
DATE OF DEATH 1925