Real-life cryptologists mentioned in 'The Da Vinci Code'

Amid all the hype surrounding "The Da Vinci Code" film, we couldn't help but wonder what modern day cryptologists were thinking about a story, albeit fiction, that touches on historical aspects of their lifework.

Turns out, however, that the cryptographer's job has changed so dramatically since the advent of computers, it's difficult to even compare it to work of historical cryptographers, aside from the common mission of encrypting information for security purposes.

That would be sort of like comparing aspects of horseshoes to the automobile wheel, said Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer of Counterpane Internet Security "they're not even close."

Fellow cryptographer Philip Zimmermann affirmed the huge difference between modern and historical crypto. "Sort of like comparing Da Vinci's inventions with a Pentium chip," he said.

So perhaps the more relevant Da Vinci Code news, as far as modern day cryptographers are concerned, is that both Zimmermann and Schneier are mentioned in the book (page 199 in the hardback, page 217 in our paperback version).

"I'm a realistic background detail," said Schneier, who first saw his name in the book while reading it on an airplane.

Zimmermann, creator of Pretty Good Privacy software, added that, while he has been mentioned in dozens of other books, without a lot of hubbub, when mentioned in a novel, "I get tons of e-mail telling me about it."

"The power of fiction on pop culture," Zimmermann said, adding, "it does feel more cool to be in fiction."