Auguste Kerckhoffs

Auguste Kerckhoffs (19 January 1835 – 9 August 1903) was a Dutch linguist and cryptographer in the late 19th century.

Auguste Kerckhoffs
Born(1835-01-19)19 January 1835
Nuth, Netherlands
Died9 August 1903(1903-08-09) (aged 68)
NationalityDutch
Alma materUniversity of Liège
Known forKerckhoffs's principle
Scientific career
FieldsCryptography, linguistics
InstitutionsHEC Paris

Biography

Kerckhoffs was born in Nuth, the Netherlands, as Jean Guillaume Auguste Victor François Hubert Kerckhoffs, son of Jean Guillaume Kerckhoffs, mayor of the village of Nuth, and Jeanette Elisabeth Lintjens.[1] Kerckhoffs studied at the University of Liège.[2] After a period of teaching in schools in the Netherlands and France, he became a professor of German language at the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (Paris)[3] and the École Arago.[4]

Principles

He is best known today for his two part paper published in 1883 in Le Journal des Sciences Militaires (Journal of Military Science) entitled La Cryptographie Militaire (Military Cryptography). These articles surveyed the then state-of-the-art in military cryptography, and made a plea for considerable improvements in French practice. They also included many pieces of practical advice and rules of thumb, including six principles of practical cipher design:[5]

  1. The system should be, if not theoretically unbreakable, unbreakable in practice.
  2. The design of a system should not require secrecy, and compromise of the system should not inconvenience the correspondents (Kerckhoffs's principle).
  3. The key should be memorable without notes and should be easily changeable.
  4. The cryptograms should be transmittable by telegraph.
  5. The apparatus or documents should be portable and operable by a single person.
  6. The system should be easy, neither requiring knowledge of a long list of rules nor involving mental strain.

The best-known is the second of his six principles, also known as Kerckhoffs's principle. It can be understood as the idea that the security of a cryptosystem must depend only on the key, and not on the secrecy of the algorithm used for encryption or any other part of the system.[6]

Volapük

In 1885, Dr. Kerckhoffs became interested in the constructed language Volapük, and for several years was a leading member of the Volapük movement, and Director of the Academy of Volapük. He published several books on the subject and introduced the movement to France, Spain, and Scandinavia through a series of public lectures.[7]

References
  1. "Geboorteakte Kerckhoffs, Jean Guillaume Auguste Victor F.H., 19-01... (Electronic Birth Record of Auguste Kerckhoffs)". www.archieven.nl (in Dutch). Sociaal en Regionaal Historisch Centrum voor Limburg. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  2. Petitcolas, Fabien A. P. (2011). "Kerckhoffs' Principle". In van Tilborg, H.C.A.; Jajodia, S (eds.). Encyclopedia of Cryptography and Security. Boston: Springer US. p. 675. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-5906-5_487. ISBN 978-1-4419-5906-5. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  3. "August Kerckhoffs: the father of computer security - History". china.exed.hec.edu. HEC Paris. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  4. Kahn 1996, Chapter 8.
  5. "About La Cryptographie Militaire". www.petitcolas.net. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  6. Savard, John J. G. (2003). "A Cryptographic Compendium: The Ideal Cipher". www.quadibloc.com. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  7. Lafarge, Paul (1 August 2000). "Pük, Memory: O Fat Obas". The Village Voice. New York, NY. Retrieved 26 November 2022.

Bibliography
  • Kahn, David (1996). The Codebreakers: The Comprehensive History of Secret Communication from Ancient Times to the Internet. Scribner. ISBN 0-684-83130-9.
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