Mathematics and Espionage
One is sometimes surprised to learn it, but intelligence agencies employ many mathematicians. To such an extent that they are probably the first employers for the profession! The usefulness of cryptology to encrypt or to decrypt confidential messages is no longer in question. But in a world of information submerged by digital data that circulates (too?) freely, securing transactions, searching for the "right" file have become highly strategic issues. Combinatorics, probabilities, statistics, data analysis... have become indispensable and will only continue to develop. Do you want to be a spy, become the next Matha (sic.) Hari? You know what you have left to do!
All articles in this folder
Codebreaking in intelligence: history and methods
Throughout history, decrypting coded messages has played a major—though often overlooked—role. From the first battle won through cryptography alone to the breaking of Enigma, examples abound, but they have often been kept hidden. That remains true today.
Mobile phones: location, networks and mathematics
A spy's dream would be for the target—the person under surveillance—to carry a microphone and a camera and be locatable. In fact, this is no longer a dream: everyone now owns a smartphone, complete with a microphone, a camera and GPS. The spy's life has become so easy…
Passwords… not so secret
From Dupont00 to 2r67W@SBZX2!r9, we all use passwords, and their apparent complexity is usually deceptive. If our current passwords are so ineffective, how can we keep our data and privacy secure?
Intelligence agencies: the world's largest employers of mathematicians
In the popular imagination, intelligence agencies are staffed by muscle-bound spooks, not exactly refined intellectuals—and certainly not computer scientists sitting behind screens or fully trained mathematicians with degrees. In reality, precisely the opposite is true!
Steganography, cryptography's inseparable companion
While cryptography seeks to make information unintelligible, steganography aims to conceal the very existence of that information. The idea is to hide it within a drawing, image, text or sound.