Don Coppersmith (born 1950) is a

cryptographer Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or '' -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adversarial behavior. More gen ...

and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

. He was involved in the design of the

Data Encryption Standard The Data Encryption Standard (DES ) is a symmetric-key algorithm for the encryption of digital data. Although its short key length of 56 bits makes it too insecure for modern applications, it has been highly influential in the advancement of cryp ...

block cipher In cryptography, a block cipher is a deterministic algorithm that operates on fixed-length groups of bits, called ''blocks''. Block ciphers are the elementary building blocks of many cryptographic protocols. They are ubiquitous in the storage a ...

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

, particularly the design of the

S-box In cryptography, an S-box (substitution-box) is a basic component of symmetric key algorithms which performs substitution. In block ciphers, they are typically used to obscure the relationship between the key and the ciphertext, thus ensuring Clau ...

es, strengthening them against

differential cryptanalysis Differential cryptanalysis is a general form of cryptanalysis applicable primarily to block ciphers, but also to stream ciphers and cryptographic hash functions. In the broadest sense, it is the study of how differences in information input can a ...

. He also improved the

quantum Fourier transform In quantum computing, the quantum Fourier transform (QFT) is a linear transformation on qubit, quantum bits, and is the quantum analogue of the discrete Fourier transform. The quantum Fourier transform is a part of many quantum algorithms, notably ...

discovered by

Peter Shor Peter Williston Shor (born August 14, 1959) is an American theoretical computer scientist known for his work on quantum computation, in particular for devising Shor's algorithm, a quantum algorithm for factoring exponentially faster than the ...

in the same year (1994). He has also worked on

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...

s for computing

discrete logarithm In mathematics, for given real numbers a and b, the logarithm \log_b(a) is a number x such that b^x=a. Analogously, in any group G, powers b^k can be defined for all integers k, and the discrete logarithm \log_b(a) is an integer k such that b^k=a ...

s, the

cryptanalysis Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic se ...

of RSA, methods for rapid

matrix multiplication In mathematics, specifically in linear algebra, matrix multiplication is a binary operation that produces a matrix (mathematics), matrix from two matrices. For matrix multiplication, the number of columns in the first matrix must be equal to the n ...

(see Coppersmith–Winograd algorithm) and IBM's

MARS Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

cipher. He is also a co-designer of the

SEAL Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

and Scream ciphers. In 1972, Coppersmith obtained a bachelor's degree in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, and a Masters and Ph.D. in mathematics from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1975 and 1977 respectively. He was a

Putnam Fellow The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, often abbreviated to Putnam Competition, is an annual mathematics competition for undergraduate college students enrolled at institutions of higher learning in the United States and Canada (regar ...

each year from 1968–1971, becoming the first four-time Putnam Fellow in history. In 1998, he started ''Ponder This'', an online monthly column on

mathematical puzzle Mathematical puzzles make up an integral part of recreational mathematics. They have specific rules, but they do not usually involve competition between two or more players. Instead, to solve such a puzzle, the solver must find a solution that sati ...

s and problems. In October 2005, the column was taken over by James Shearer. Around that same time, he left

and began working at the IDA Center for Communications Research, Princeton. In 2002, Coppersmith won the

RSA Award for Excellence in Mathematics Formally called since 2025 The RSAC Conference Award for Excellence in Mathematics, is an annual award. It is announced at the annual RSA Conference in recognition of innovations and contributions in the field of cryptography. An award committee o ...

. In 2022, Coppersmith was awarded the Levchin Prize for “foundational innovations in cryptanalysis” .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coppersmith, Don 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians IBM employees IBM Research computer scientists Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Modern cryptographers Putnam Fellows 1950s births Living people Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni International Association for Cryptologic Research fellows Year of birth missing (living people)

See also

References

External links