of antiquity the NSA desperately lacks but at the same time deeply understands mathematics and its practical application to technology, particularly network communication and cryptography. He is an ideal translator and analyst. Computer scientists often think in terms of zeroes and ones, but it is refreshing as a reader to see the world through the eyes of a technically savvy filter like Ambrose, particularly when observing the interplay and tension among science, religion, and government.

Tetraktys reflects a hauntingly autobiographical mood. I’m sure each of us has wondered how our lives would differ if we had made alternative choices along the way. Tetraktys strikes me as a similar excursion. In real life, Juels is the chief scientist and director of RSA Laboratories, the research arm of a leading security company, RSA Security, but unlike his protagonist, Juels really did earn his Ph.D. from Berkeley in computer science. However, he also studied classical literature at Oxford University and Amherst College. The striking similarity bet ween protagonist and author adds to the authenticity of the novel and makes one wonder if Ambrose Jerusalem is indeed Ari Juels and if Tetraktys is more memoir than fiction, albeit in a parallel world.

The most compelling aspect of the
book is its intellectual stimulation and
insightful technological authenticity.
We are exposed to a tide of intriguing
ideas with startling implications for
personal privacy, technical innova-
tion, and national security. Consider
the implications of efficient factoriza-
tion. Especially alarming is that one
of the world’s bedrock encryption
algorithms would or even could fail.
Current and historical communica-
tions would instantly devolve into
plaintext. As an aside, we may experi-
ence these implications firsthand if
quantum computers would become
viable in the not-too-distant future.
(Juels indicated his doubts about the
state of quantum computers, saying
those in an NSA office were “home-
grown-looking apparatus entangled
in wires, paper labels, and sheets of
Mylar.”) Tetraktys suggests many
other novel ideas, most notably data
mining trends in the global psyche by
way of an uptick in prices on eBay or
ubiquitous audio, video, and location
monitoring of people via their tro-
janed cell phones. Another is the geo-
location of users across the Internet.
Traditionally, tracking an attacker
back across a network involves gather-
ing log information from each hop
along the way, sometimes a legally
impossible task if an intermediary
is uncooperative. But Juels suggests
it might be possible to use global
Internet latency “conductivity maps”
to triangulate the position of an
attacker without such knowledge.

little opportunity for much of the global population compared to the potentially rich possibilities online.

No book, even this one, is perfect, of course; the complexity of a bulletproof, intricate storyline creates a challenging task for any writer. Several situations in Tetraktys raise questions about the consistency of the plot. For instance, why would the antagonists help total strangers win a convenience-store lottery as a public relations stunt? Moreover, why is NSA so apparently unaware of Ambrose’s comings and goings? Such details are few and minor and ultimately don’t undermine the plotline’s plausibility and momentum.

Few people besides Juels could have written such a book, especially with such authenticity. Playing to his strengths as scientist, cryptography expert, and classically trained thinker, he delivers a tale that is compelling, intellectually stimulating, and destined to resonate with the technical community. 

Gregory Conti ( [e-mail]) is an assistant professor of computer science and Director of West Point’s Cyber Security Research Center. He is the author of two non-fiction books: Googling Security and Security Data Visualization.

 

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Military Academy, the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.