History of Cryptanalysis in Timeline

Cryptanalysis is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information, without knowledge of the secret key. It involves analyzing information systems to uncover hidden aspects and bypass security. The primary goal is to breach cryptographic security and access encrypted messages, even without the key. This is achieved through various techniques that exploit vulnerabilities in cryptographic algorithms or their implementation.

1920: Coining of "Cryptanalysis"

In 1920, the word "cryptanalysis" was coined by William Friedman.

1980: Factoring a 50-digit Number

In 1980, a difficult 50-digit number could be factored at an expense of 10 elementary computer operations.

1983: Don Coppersmith's Algorithm for Discrete Logarithms

In 1983, Don Coppersmith discovered a faster algorithm for finding discrete logarithms in certain groups, which impacted the Diffie-Hellman key exchange scheme, requiring cryptographers to use larger or different types of groups.

1984: Factoring a 75-digit Number

By 1984, advances in factoring algorithms had reached a point where a 75-digit number could be factored in 10 operations.

1998: Lars Knudsen's Classification of Attacks

In 1998, cryptographer Lars Knudsen classified various types of attacks on block ciphers according to the amount and quality of secret information that was discovered.

2005: Key Size Considerations for RSA

In 2005, numbers with several hundred digits were still considered too hard to factor, though methods would probably continue to improve, requiring key sizes to keep pace, or other methods such as elliptic curve cryptography to be used.

2010: Brian Snow's statement on Cryptography's Advancement

In 2010, former NSA technical director Brian Snow stated that both academic and government cryptographers are "moving very slowly forward in a mature field."