This is the first of ten parts of the sci.crypt FAQ. The parts are mostly independent, but you should read this part before the rest. We don't have the time to send out missing parts by mail, so don't ask. Notes such as ``[KAH67]'' refer to the reference list in the last part.
Disclaimer: This document is the product of the Crypt Cabal, a secret society which serves the National Secu---uh, no. Seriously, we're the good guys, and we've done what we can to ensure the completeness and accuracy of this document, but in a field of military and commercial importance like cryptography you have to expect that some people and organizations consider their interests more important than open scientific discussion. Trust only what you can verify firsthand. And don't sue us.
Many people have contributed to this FAQ. In alphabetical order: Eric Bach, Steve Bellovin, Dan Bernstein, Nelson Bolyard, Carl Ellison, Jim Gillogly, Mike Gleason, Doug Gwyn, Luke O'Connor, Tony Patti, William Setzer. We apologize for any omissions.
If you have suggestions, comments, or criticism, please let the current editors know by sending e-mail to crypt-comments@math.ncsu.edu. Bear in mind that this is a work in progress; there are some questions which we should add but haven't gotten around to yet. In making comments on additions it is most helpful if you are as specific as possible and ideally even provide the actual exact text.
Archives: sci.crypt has been archived since October 1991 on ripem.msu.edu, though these archives are available only to U.S. and Canadian users. Another site is rpub.cl.msu.edu in /pub/crypt/sci.crypt/ from Jan 1992. Please contact crypt-comments@math.ncsu.edu if you know of other archives.
The sections of this FAQ are available via anonymous FTP to rtfm.mit.edu as /pub/usenet/news.answers/cryptography-faq/part[xx]. The Cryptography FAQ is posted to the newsgroups sci.crypt, talk.politics.crypto, sci.answers, and news.answers every 21 days.
The fields `Last-modified' and `Version' at the top of each part track revisions.