Synopsis

Nearly 30 years have passed since the breakthrough discovery of the RSA public-key cryptosystem by Rivest, Shamir and Adleman and their subsequent introduction of Alice and Bob, the leading characters of modern cryptography. During this time, the security of the algorithm has become well understood, the algorithm has been widely implemented, and a company bearing the RSA name has grown to a 1200-person, US $310M enterprise operating in nearly 50 countries, including Singapore.

"Alice and Bob," meanwhile, have matured from a pair of users encrypting and signing email messages into a community of individuals and organizations protecting their online identities and data with the support of a worldwide security infrastructure.

Many challenges and opportunities await a new concept on its journey from the laboratory into the world, and most don't make it. Alice, Bob, and the RSA algorithm did, surrounded by a cast of characters that together are helping bring confidence to today's online economy.

In this talk, I'll share some of the lessons I've learned as a traveler on the road to commercialization of the RSA algorithm.

About the Speaker

Dr. Burt Kaliski is vice president of research at RSA Security and chief scientist of its research center, RSA Laboratories, where he works to transform promising technologies into competitive advantages for the company and its customers.

Burt joined RSA Data Security in 1989 when it was a startup, and in 1991 helped launch RSA Laboratories as an academic environment within RSA Data Security. (RSA Data Security was acquired by Security Dynamics in 1996; the merged companies were renamed RSA Security.) Since 1991 he has been chief scientist of RSA Laboratories, leading a group of applied researchers and standards developers that has produced a range of new concepts and technologies. In 2004 he was promoted to the additional role of vice president of research for RSA Security.

Burt has also been involved extensively in the development of cryptographic standards. During the early days of RSA Laboratories, he coordinated the development of the Public-Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS), working with major early adopters of public-key cryptography. From 1993-99, he served as chair of the IEEE P1363 working group, which developed a standard, IEEE Std 1363-2000, covering the three main families of public-key cryptography. From 1999-2004 he was the editor of the recently published IEEE Std 1363a-2004 document. He has also served as the editor of ANSI X9.44, the emerging banking standard for key establishment based on the RSA cryptosystem. Burt is an author of several Internet RFCs.

Burt's research interests over the years have included public-key cryptography, efficient implementation of cryptographic algorithms, block cipher cryptanalysis, elliptic curve cryptography, user authentication, and privacy protection. He is an inventor on eight patents with several others pending.

Burt has served as general chair of CRYPTO '91 and program chair of CRYPTO '97 and CHES 2002. He has participated on program committees for several major conferences, and on the editorial board of ACM TISSEC, and is currently a member of the steering committee for the CHES workshop series. Burt has also served on the advisory board for the Encyclopedia of Cryptography and Security. He has been a frequent speaker at industry conferences and was an invited speaker at ASIACRYPT '98, and has more than 20 conference and journal publications.

Burt is a member of the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, and was one of 11 recipients of the organization's New England Business and Technology Award in 2003.

Burt received his bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from MIT, where his research focused on cryptography. Prior to joining RSA Data Security, he was a visiting assistant professor of computer engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology. He is a member of the IEEE Computer Society and the International Association for Cryptologic Research.