Martin Hellman: We’re playing Russian roulette

NinjaZ@infosec.pub to Technology@lemmy.world – 52 points – Martin Hellman: We’re playing Russian roulette
infoworld.com

Martin Hellman achieved legendary status as co-inventor of the Diffie-Hellman public key exchange algorithm, a breakthrough in software and computer cryptography. That invention and his ongoing work in cryptography and digital signatures earned him a Turing award in 2015. He has since followed that up with a second act devoted to promoting world peace and personal development.

I was recently able to meet with Mr. Hellman for a far-ranging conversation about the technological and personal synergies that have shaped his thinking and defined his career. It was both a pleasure and an honor to interview one of the true luminaries of technology innovation.

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For anyone curious about the roulette part specifically:

I estimated the risk of a major nuclear war was roughly equivalent to pulling the trigger in “nuclear roulette” once every fifteen years, so about five times over the life of a child born today.

To paraphrase Dan Carlin, one can expect a stuntman to walk a tightrope for a while, but what if he had to walk it forever?