CRYPTOGRAPHY AND PUBLIC-POLICY

Cryptography has been at the center of an often obscure but bitterly f ought policy battle for the past several years. The National Research Council (NRC), at the request of Congress, compiled a comprehensive re view of national cryptography policy. The NRC's report, Cryptography's Role in Securing the Information Society, presents its view on nation al cryptography policy in force at the time the report was released. T he Executive Summary from that report is reprinted, followed by a desc ription of major events since the report was released in May 1996 thro ugh mid-1997. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.