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Horst Feistel
 
 
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Horst Feistel (30 January 1915(1)–14 November 1990) was a cryptographer who worked on the design of cipher
Cipher

In cryptography, a cipher is an algorithm for performing encryption and decryption — a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure....
s at IBM
IBM

International Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue" , is a multinational corporation computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, New York, United States....
, initiating research that would culminate in the development of the Data Encryption Standard
Data Encryption Standard

The Data Encryption Standard is a block cipher that was selected by National Bureau of Standards as an official Federal Information Processing Standard for the United States in 1976 and which has subsequently enjoyed widespread use internationally....
 (DES) in the 1970s.

tel was born in Berlin
Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
 in 1915, and moved to the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 in 1934. During World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, he was placed under house arrest, but nevertheless gained U.S. citizenship on 31 January 1944.






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Horst Feistel (30 January 1915(1)–14 November 1990) was a cryptographer who worked on the design of cipher
Cipher

In cryptography, a cipher is an algorithm for performing encryption and decryption — a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure....
s at IBM
IBM

International Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue" , is a multinational corporation computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, New York, United States....
, initiating research that would culminate in the development of the Data Encryption Standard
Data Encryption Standard

The Data Encryption Standard is a block cipher that was selected by National Bureau of Standards as an official Federal Information Processing Standard for the United States in 1976 and which has subsequently enjoyed widespread use internationally....
 (DES) in the 1970s.

Life and work

Feistel was born in Berlin
Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
 in 1915, and moved to the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 in 1934. During World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, he was placed under house arrest, but nevertheless gained U.S. citizenship on 31 January 1944. The following day he was granted a security clearance and began work for the U.S. Air Force Cambridge Research Center (AFCRC) on Identification Friend or Foe
Identification friend or foe

In telecommunications, identification, friend or foe is a cryptographic identification system designed for command and control. It is a system that enables military, and national interrogation systems to distinguish friendly aircraft, vehicles, or forces, and to determine their bearing and range from the interrogator....
 (IFF) devices until the 1950s. He was subsequently employed at MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private university research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States....
's Lincoln Laboratory
Lincoln Laboratory

MIT Lincoln Laboratory, also known as Lincoln Lab, is a federally funded research and development center managed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and primarily funded by the United States Department of Defense....
, then the MITRE
MITRE

The Mitre Corporation, officially trademarked as MITRE, is a public-interest not-for-profit organization based in Bedford, Massachusetts and McLean, Virginia....
 corporation. Finally, he moved to IBM
IBM

International Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue" , is a multinational corporation computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, New York, United States....
, where he received an award for his cryptographic work. His research at IBM
IBM

International Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue" , is a multinational corporation computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, New York, United States....
 led to the development of the Lucifer
Lucifer (cipher)

In cryptography, Lucifer was the name given to several of the earliest civilian block ciphers, developed by Horst Feistel and his colleagues at IBM....
 and Data Encryption Standard
Data Encryption Standard

The Data Encryption Standard is a block cipher that was selected by National Bureau of Standards as an official Federal Information Processing Standard for the United States in 1976 and which has subsequently enjoyed widespread use internationally....
 (DES) ciphers. Feistel was one of the earliest non-government researchers to study the design and theory of block cipher
Block cipher

In cryptography, a block cipher is a symmetric key algorithm cipher which operates on fixed-length groups of bits, termed blocks, with an unvarying transformation....
s.

Feistel lent his name to the Feistel network construction — a common method for constructing block ciphers.

Feistel obtained a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts for three, four, or in some cases and countries, five or six years....
 at MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private university research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States....
, and his master's
Master's degree

A master's degree provides a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of profession. Within the area studied, graduates possess advanced knowledge of a specialized body of theory and applied topics; high order skills in analysis, Critical thinking and/or professional application; and the ability to problem solving a...
 at Harvard, both in physics
Physics

Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
. He married Leona (Gage) in 1945, with whom he had a daughter, Peggy.

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