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(U) Mathematician: An Insider's View
FROM:
Diagnosis and Exploitation Support (S31153)
Run Date: 09/04/2003
(U//FOUO) What comes to mind when someone tells you he is a
SERIES:
mathematician? ... Word problems? High school teacher? Graphing
(U) A Day in the Life of...
calculators? Pocket protectors? White boards filled with mile long
equations? Slide rules, even? While those thoughts may be
appropriate when characterizing some mathematicians, here in SID
1. Office Manager:
there is another dimension to the picture.
Jack-of-All-Trades
2. The Life of An Exec
(U//FOUO) To really clear up that mental picture, you have to know
3. Working as a Policy
that the words mathematician, cryptanalyst, and
Analyst: One
cryptomathematician are used synonymously in the field of
Person's Perspective
Diagnosis. I'm a mathematician and that is my field.
4. Data Flow Manager:
The Data Fairy?
(C//SI) Diagnosis is the study of cipher, enciphering key, or
5. Mathematician: An
cryptovariables (initial key settings) in an attempt to determine the
Insider's View
cryptographic algorithms from which they were generated. I work
6. NSA Linguists
on the Transnational (Target) Integrated Diagnosis Focus Team.
'Panning for Gold'
The team is made up of twelve mathematicians/cryptanalysts. Our
7. Plenty of Action on
task is to perform diagnosis on indigenous cryptographic systems
the Action Team
and simultaneously improve the health of cryptanalytic diagnosis.
8. On The Collection
(Officer's) Plate
(C//SI) During the course of a normal day I run cryptanalytic
9.
Sitting in the SOO's
routines on UNIX desktop workstations, supercomputers, and
Chair
special-purpose devices using available software tools. The routines
10.
You Can't Keep the
employ standard cryptanalytic tests which search for patterns and
NSC Waiting!.. A Day
non-random properties in data. If I devise a test for which no
in the Life of a
available tools exist, then I will write software to perform the test.
GRSOC Analyst
If I detect a significant statistical property in data, I will
immediately seek, expect, and receive help from team members.
(U//FOUO) The team collaborates on diagnosis problems. It is
important for me to document my test results - failures as well as
successes - in our internal project news groups. It is also important
for me to read the postings made by others on our news groups.
The team discusses recent developments, data models, ideas, and
future direction during our daily (!) team meetings.
(C//SI) On one hand, cryptanalysis can be frustrating. It is not a
"do-it-yourself" endeavor. Cryptanalysts realize that the
importance of achieving a successful diagnosis far exceeds the
associated personal achievement. On the other hand, diagnosing a
cryptographic system can prove to be a very rewarding experience.
Achieving success is neither instantaneous nor deterministic. A
successful diagnosis may evolve over the course of months or
perhaps years. The diagnostic process may be undertaken by new
cryptanalysts and it may be revisited. Sometimes taking a short
step away from a problem leads to the best step forward that a
mathematician will take.
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108