Digital Fortress Chapter 31

Susan returned to Node 3. Her conversation with Strathmore had made her increasingly anxious about Davids safety. Her imagination was running wild.So, hang back spouted from his terminal. What did Strathmore want? A romantic evening alone with his head cryptographer?Susan ignored the comment and settled in at her terminal. She typed her privacy code and the screen came to life. The tracer programme came into view it still had not returned any information on North Dakota.Damn, Susan thought. Whats taking so long?You seem uptight, drag in said innocently. Having trouble with your diagnostic?Nothing serious, she replied. But Susan wasnt so sure. The tracer was overdue. She wondered if maybe shed made a mistake while penning it. She began scanning the long lines of LIMBO programming on her screen, searching for anything that could be holding things up. storm observed her smugly. Hey, I meant to ask you, he ventured. What do you make of that unbreak satis featureory algorithm Ensei T ankado said he was writing?Susans stomach did a flip. She looked up. Unbreakable algorithm? She caught herself. Oh, yeah I think I read well-nighthing about that.Pretty incredible claim.Yeah, Susan replied, wondering why Hale had suddenly brought it up. I dont buy it, though. Everyone have a go at its an unbreakable algorithm is a mathematical impossibility.Hale smiled. Oh, yeah the Bergofsky Principle.And common sense, she snapped.Who knows Hale sighed dramatically. There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.I beg your pardon?Shakespeare, Hale offered. Hamlet.Read a mountain while you were in jail?Hale chuckled. Seriously, Susan, did you ever think that maybe it is possible, that maybe Tankado au whencetically did write an unbreakable algorithm?This conversation was making Susan uneasy. Well, we couldnt do it.Maybe Tankados better than we are.Maybe. Susan shrugged, feigning disinterest.We corresponded for a while, Hale offered casually. Tank ado and me. Did you know that?Susan looked up, attempting to hide her shock. Really?Yeah. After I uncovered the Skipjack algorithm, he wrote me-said we were brothers in the global fight for digital privacy.Susan could barely agree her disbelief. Hale knows Tankado personally She did her best to look uninterested.Hale went on. He congratulated me for proving that Skipjack had a back door-called it a coup for privacy rights of civilians all over the world. You gotta admit, Susan, the backdoor in Skipjack was an underhanded play. Reading the worlds E-mail? If you ask me, Strathmore deserved to get caught.Greg, Susan snapped, fighting her anger, that back door was so the NSA could decode E-mail that threatened this nations security.Oh, really? Hale sighed innocently. And snooping the average citizen was just a lucky by-product?We dont snoop average citizens, and you know it. The FBI can tap telephones, but that doesnt mean they listen to any call thats ever made.If they had the manpow er, they would.Susan ignored the remark. Governments should have the right to gather information that threatens the common good.Jesus Christ-Hale sighed-you sound like youve been brainwashed by Strathmore. You know damn well the FBI cant listen in whenever they want-theyve got to get a warrant. A spiked encryption standard would mean the NSA could listen in to anyone, anytime, anywhere.Youre right-as we should be able to Susans voice was suddenly harsh. If you hadnt uncovered the back door in Skipjack, wed have access to every code we need to break, instead of just what TRANSLTR can handle.If I hadnt found the back door, Hale argued, someone else would have. I saved your asses by uncovering it when I did. Can you imagine the fallout if Skipjack had been in circulation when the give-and-take broke?Either way, Susan shot back, now weve got a paranoid EFF who think we put back doors in all our algorithms.Hale asked smugly, Well, dont we?Susan eyed him coldly.Hey, he said, backing off, the point is moot now anyway. You built TRANSLTR. Youve got your instant information source. You can read what you want, when you want-no questions asked. You win.Dont you mean we win? Last I heard, you worked for the NSA.Not for long, Hale chirped.Dont make promises.Im serious. Someday Im getting out of here.Ill be crushed.In that moment, Susan found herself wanting to curse Hale for everything that wasnt going right. She wanted to curse him for Digital Fortress, for her troubles with David, for the fact that she wasnt in the Smokys-but none of it was his fault. Hales only fault was that he was obnoxious. Susan needed to be the bigger person. It was her responsibility as head cryptographer to keep the peace, to educate. Hale was teenaged and naive.Susan looked over at him. It was frustrating, she thought, that Hale had the talent to be an asset in Crypto, but he still hadnt grasped the importance of what the NSA did.Greg, Susan said, her voice quiet and controlled, Im under a lot of pressure today. I just get upset when you talk about the NSA like were some kind of high-tech peeping Tom. This organization was founded for one purpose-to nourish the security of this nation. That may involve shaking a few trees and looking for the bad apples from time to time. I think most citizens would gladly sacrifice some privacy to know that the bad guys cant maneuver unchecked.Hale said nothing.Sooner or later, Susan argued, the people of this nation need to put their trust somewhere. Theres a lot of good out there-but theres also a lot of bad mixed in. Someone has to have access to all of it and separate the right from wrong. Thats our job. Thats our duty. Whether we like it or not, there is a frail gate separating democracy from anarchy. The NSA guards that gate.Hale nodded thoughtfully. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?Susan looked puzzled.Its Latin, Hale said. From Satires of Juvenal. It means Who will guard the guards? I dont get it, Susan said. Who will guard the gu ards? Yeah. If were the guards of society, then who will watch us and make sure that were not dangerous?Susan nodded, unsure how to respond.Hale smiled. Its how Tankado signed all his letters to me. It was his favorite saying.