The Key Exchange Problem
The key exchange problem is how to exchange whatever keys or other information are needed so that no one else can obtain a copy. Traditionally, this required trusted couriers, diplomatic bags, or some other secure channel. With the advent of public key / private key cipher algorithms, the encrypting key (aka public key) could be made public, since (at least for high quality algorithms) no one without the decrypting key (aka, the private key) could decrypt the message.
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Famous quotes containing the words key, exchange and/or problem:
“Power, in Case’s world, meant corporate power. The zaibatsus, the multinationals ..., had ... attained a kind of immortality. You couldn’t kill a zaibatsu by assassinating a dozen key executives; there were others waiting to step up the ladder; assume the vacated position, access the vast banks of corporate memory.”
—William Gibson (b. 1948)
“The press and politicians. A delicate relationship. Too close, and danger ensues. Too far apart and democracy itself cannot function without the essential exchange of information. Creative leaks, a discreet lunch, interchange in the Lobby, the art of the unattributable telephone call, late at night.”
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“Our political problem now is “Can we, as a nation, continue together permanentlyforever—half slave, and half free?” The problem is too mighty for me. May God, in his mercy, superintend the solution.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)