Alice and Bob: Difference between revisions

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(link to Bob & Carol Ted & Alice)
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(reference)
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His extensions seem to be in the process of becoming standard as well.
His extensions seem to be in the process of becoming standard as well.


Alice and Bob have an amusing [http://www.conceptlabs.co.uk/alicebob.html biography] on the web.
Alice and Bob have an amusing biography on the web.
 
{{quotation|Now there are hundreds of papers written about Alice and Bob. Over the years Alice and Bob have tried to defraud insurance companies, they've played poker for high stakes by mail, and they've exchanged secret messages over tapped telephones.}}
 
{{quotation|If we put together snippets from lots of papers, we get a fascinating picture of their lives. This may be the first time a definitive biography of Alice and Bob has been given. ...}}
 
{{quotation|Against all odds, over a noisy telephone line, tapped by the tax authorities and the secret police, Alice will happily attempt, with someone she doesn't trust, whom she cannot hear clearly, and who is probably someone else, to fiddle her tax returns and to organise a coup d'etat, while at the same time minimising the cost of the phone call.}}
 
{{quotation|A coding theorist is someone who doesn't think Alice is crazy.<ref>{{citation
| url= http://www.conceptlabs.co.uk/alicebob.html
| title = The Story of Alice and Bob
| author = John Gordon
| date = 1984
}}</ref>}}


The similar name of the film [[Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice]] and subsequent TV show appears to be just a coincidence.
The similar name of the film [[Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice]] and subsequent TV show appears to be just a coincidence.

Revision as of 01:35, 5 August 2010

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Alice and Bob, also just A and B, are the standard example users in writing on cryptography and coding theory. Carol and Dave often join them for protocols that require more than two players.

Bruce Schneier extends these [1] with two kinds of attacker:

and several other types of player required in various protocols:

  • Victor the Verifier
  • Peggy the Prover
  • Trent the Trusted third party
  • Walter the Warden

His extensions seem to be in the process of becoming standard as well.

Alice and Bob have an amusing biography on the web.

Now there are hundreds of papers written about Alice and Bob. Over the years Alice and Bob have tried to defraud insurance companies, they've played poker for high stakes by mail, and they've exchanged secret messages over tapped telephones.

If we put together snippets from lots of papers, we get a fascinating picture of their lives. This may be the first time a definitive biography of Alice and Bob has been given. ...

Against all odds, over a noisy telephone line, tapped by the tax authorities and the secret police, Alice will happily attempt, with someone she doesn't trust, whom she cannot hear clearly, and who is probably someone else, to fiddle her tax returns and to organise a coup d'etat, while at the same time minimising the cost of the phone call.

A coding theorist is someone who doesn't think Alice is crazy.[2]

The similar name of the film Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice and subsequent TV show appears to be just a coincidence.

References

  1. Schneier, Bruce (2nd edition, 1996,), Applied Cryptography, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 0-471-11709-9 page 23
  2. John Gordon (1984), The Story of Alice and Bob