Auguste Kerckhoffs (19 January 1835 – 9 August 1903) was a Dutch
linguist and
cryptographer in the late 19th century.
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. Kerckhoffs studied at the
University of Liège. 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
HEC Paris (french: École des hautes études commerciales de Paris) is a business school, and one of the most prestigious and selective grandes écoles, located in Jouy-en-Josas, France. HEC offers Master in Management, MSc International Fi ...
(Paris) and the
École Arago.
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:
# The system should be, if not theoretically unbreakable, unbreakable in practice.
# The design of a system should not require secrecy, and compromise of the system should not inconvenience the correspondents (
Kerckhoffs's principle
Kerckhoffs's principle (also called Kerckhoffs's desideratum, assumption, axiom, doctrine or law) of cryptography was stated by Dutch-born cryptographer Auguste Kerckhoffs in the 19th century. The principle holds that a cryptosystem should be s ...
).
# The key should be memorable without notes and should be easily changeable.
# The cryptograms should be transmittable by telegraph.
# The apparatus or documents should be portable and operable by a single person.
# 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
Kerckhoffs's principle (also called Kerckhoffs's desideratum, assumption, axiom, doctrine or law) of cryptography was stated by Dutch-born cryptographer Auguste Kerckhoffs in the 19th century. The principle holds that a cryptosystem should be s ...
. It can be understood as the idea that the security of a cryptosystem must depend only on the
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
, and not on the secrecy of the algorithm used for encryption or any other part of the system.
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.
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerckhoffs, Auguste
1835 births
1903 deaths
Pre-computer cryptographers
Dutch cryptographers
People from Nuth
University of Liège alumni
Volapük
Volapükologists
HEC Paris faculty