6. Discussion

	While the array of problems introduced in  section  3  may  be  somewhat
bewildering  at first, we hope that the threat and problem definitions will help
to organize the area in a way that will aid  research  in  the  newly  suggested
problem  areas.   Also, if as we predict, public key cryptosystem are developed,
they  would  be  modifiable  to  handle  essentially  any  of  the  applications
invisioned  in  section  3.   For this reason we strongly urge that they receive
additional study.   We also hope that sections 4 and 5 will stimulate additional
research on one-way functions and provably secure cryptosystems.
	We also hope to have partially dispelled the notion, which  we  have  so
often  heard, that external cryptographic research is destined to merely retrace
the paths taken by the governmental security agencies years ago.  The concept of
public  key  cryptosystem,  for example, is something which we believe to be new
even to the military.  This may be due to the fact that  its  public  nature  is
counter  to the military practice of surrounding security systems with stringent
physical security. Also the chain of command present  in  a  military  structure
gives rise to a chain of communication, making the key distribution problem less
severe.
	Our  belief that "outsiders" can help to advance cryptographic knowledge
has a long historical precedent.   In  the  division  between  professional  and
amateur practitioners, skill in production cryptanalysis has always been heavily
on the side of the professionals, but inventiveness and innovation, particularly
in  the  design  of new cryptographic systems, has often come from the amateurs.
Vernam, who developed the one time pad, was an amateur.   Hagelin,  who  made  a
small  fortune  from  his  cryptographic  inventions had no formal cryptographic
training.     And  Thomas  Jefferson,  also  an  amateur,  invented   a   simple
cylindrical  cryptographic  device that was so far ahead of its time that it was
still in use by NATO during the 1960's.