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Chapter 30
Public-Key Cryptography
30.1 THE SITUATION IN THE 1960s AND1970s
BEFORE THE PUBLIC KEYS
During the 1960s, the cost and performance of computers improved
remarkably due to the development of electronics and semiconductor
technology. In the early 1960s, IBM and other major computer manufac-
turers produced high-performance computers that used transistors and
diodes in logic circuits in central processing units. Since then, computers
have become more powerful and cheaper, and the computer market has
been rapidly expanding ever since.
Before the 1960s, cryptosystems were mainly used by the government
and various military and intell ...