Volume 30, Number 1 · February 3, 1983
The Ears of America
By Thomas Powers
The Puzzle Palace: A Report on America's Most Secret Agency
by James Bamford
Houghton Mifflin, 465 pp., $16.95
'Brute force' is a phrase which turns up often in James Bamford's useful investigation of the National Security Agency, the largest but least known of American intelligence services. As used by NSA officials, 'brute force' refers to the method of last resort in cracking secret codes. The best method is to obtain the key to the code by stealing it, buying it, or figuring it out, but that is often impossible. A 'brute force' attack simply tries out all the possible keys to a code identified through intercepted messages.
Review, 4108 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |