Malicious Cryptography: Exposing Cryptovirology

Acknowledgments

We have so many people to thank that it is difficult to figure out where to begin. It has been said that ideas cannot be created in a vacuum and in this we believe wholeheartedly. Malicious Cryptography is the product of interactions and collaborations that span over a decade. In truth we have family, friends, teachers, coworkers, researchers, students, anonymous referees, journalists,¹ science-fiction authors, movie writers, artists, and musicians² to acknowledge. Without such support, enthusiasm, artistic creativity, teachers, and listeners, this book would not have been possible.

First and foremost we thank Columbia University, our mutual alma mater. It was at Columbia that our research began, and it was at Columbia where we met a great number of brilliant people from whom we learned, and with whom we worked and shared ideas. We thank Zvi Galil, Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, who served as faculty advisor to us both. We thank Jonathan Gross and Andrew Kosoresow, both of whom served on Adam's PhD committee. Andrew was a great and dedicated educator, and we mourn his untimely passing. We thank Matt Franklin and Stuart Haber, both of whom graduated from Columbia. Matt and Stuart have served as collaborators to us both as well as lecturers in graduate courses taken by Adam. On numerous occasions Adam flew into Matt Franklin's office, wide-eyed and somewhat insane looking, for the sole purpose of scrawling a brand new attack on his blackboard ...