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Cryptography was once controlled by the state, which deployed it for military and diplomatic ends. But in the 1970s, long-haired hippy Whitfield Diffie came up with what has been described as the most revolutionary concept in encryption since the Renaissance. Diffie’s invention took the keys away from the state and marked the start of the ‘Crypto Wars’ – the fight for the right of individuals and companies to communicate beyond the gaze of government agencies. In this excerpt from The Inquiry Diffie explains how his invention helped governments lose control of encrytption.

(Photo: Whitfield Diffie. Credit: Stanford University)