On the post
Math Terms used in Real Life- Good or Bad
I mentioned the following:
On 24, season two, there was a line `we can't break in, its been
Huffman coded!' This makes no sense mathematically but it raises
awareness of security issues.
I had thought that Huffman Codes are just used to compress
data and had nothing to do with hiding information.
I was
wrong!
Yakov Nekrich pointed out the following to me:
Actually Huffman codes can be difficult to break, see for instance this
article:
On breaking a Huffman code
by Gillman, D.W. Mohtashemi, M. Rivest, R.L.
I'm curious- did the writers of 24 know this or not?
I would guess
no, and they just lucked out.
Unless Hillman or Mohtashemi is moonlightening as a writer
for 24 (I doubt Rivest needs the money.)
This is the second time I am pointing out a typo:), Bill.
ReplyDeleteIt's Gillman in the last sentence not Hillman.
Compression in general does an okay job of obfuscating data. Not even vaguely cryptographically secure in the modern sense, but reasonable at making it look like line noise.
ReplyDeleteSlate carries an interview with 24 writer Loeff, where he says he is "a mathematician and programmer by trade."
ReplyDeleteI happen to play Go with another 24 writer. Methinks the writers of this show are more technologically savvy than one might otherwise expect.