Crypto:
When the Code Rebels Beat the Government -- Saving Privacy in the Digital Age
By Steven Levy
Viking, $25.95
ISBN 0670859508

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Privacy, one of the most hotly debated topics of the digital age, is the central purpose of cryptography, the use of secret codes and ciphers to scramble information so only its intended recipients can understand it. Steven Levy, Newsweek's chief technology writer and author of several other computer-related books, has now turned his attention to the often-murky world of cryptography.

Long the province of quasi-secret government agencies and academic researchers, cryptography's profile increased exponentially with the rise of the Internet, which constantly sends a blizzard of information around the globe. Crypto provides a detailed look at the development of computer cryptography from the 1970s up to the present. But rather than reading like a dry history or a complex computer science text, the book focuses on the human element, the people behind the technology.

Building his story around an array of brilliant and iconoclastic people, Levy has written a tale full of colorful characters and suspenseful plot lines. The U.S. government, particularly the super-secret National Security Agency (NSA), wanted to tightly control cryptography, while a band of private sector and academic computer scientists sought to further develop it and use it more freely for commercial and personal applications.

As Levy shows, personal computers accelerated the push to incorporate cryptographic elements in commercial software. As hard as they tried, powerful government agencies like the NSA lost the battle to control encryption. From the freeware encryption program Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), to Lotus Notes and then the Netscape web browser, encryption capabilities in commercial software stopped being a rarity and became widely available.

Crypto is an engaging narrative for those interested in computers and technology. It will also appeal to readers concerned about freedom and privacy and the perennial struggle between governments and citizens over these important principles. Most importantly, Crypto -- a smart and timely addition to Levy's other books -- will help readers unravel the mystery at the heart of the machines upon which we have all become so reliant.

Brett Peruzzi has written about aspects of computer security and the Internet in his career as a technical writer.