Editorial

Welcome to the 9th electronic issue of the IACR Newsletter!

On a recent visit to a mega-bookstore in the u.s., I found three books on a prominent display table that had the word crypto on the cover. They were Levy's crypto, Singh's code book and Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, sitting there next to stacks of popular literature and lifestyle books. Does this mark the entrance of cryptology to the mainstream of topics that everyone knows and talks about? Will I no longer hear "cryp... what?" in conversations about my work next year? After all, author Steven Levy has previously written up the histories of pop culture pets like the Macintosh and hackers.

Indeed, I think cryptology has established itself today not only in the high-tech world -- the Internet has also brought it to many businesses and homes around the world. Not all of its users are aware of cryptology (nor need they be), but they will have more questions and demand more knowledge about it in the future. Fortunately, cryptology has also grown into a mature science that can offer some answers to their questions.

You'll find my impressions of reading crypto in the new books section.

Noteworthy items in this issue:

Upcoming IACR elections
IACR Distinguished Lecture by Andrew Odlyzko held at Eurocrypt 2001 in Innsbruck

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The next issue of the IACR Newsletter is scheduled for publication in October 2001. However, announcements will be posted on the IACR Website as soon as possible.

Christian Cachin
IACR Newsletter Editor