Disappearing Cryptography, 3rd Edition

Chapter 22. Coda

As I've been writing this book, I've been haunted by the possibility that there may be something inherently evil or wrong in these algorithms. If criminals are able to hide information so effectively, justice becomes more elusive. There is less the police can do before a crime is committed and there is less evidence after the fact. All of the ideas in this book, no matter how philosophical or embellished with allegory or cute jokes, carry this implicit threat.

This threat became a bit more obvious after the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. Some news reports offered the supposition that the attackers may have coordinated their efforts by hiding information in images. While there is no evidence that ...