Client Contract

General Description

Modern cryptography is a remarkable field. It manages to solve problems that
one might guess to be unsolvable, to define goals that one might assume to be
undefinable, and to prove theorems that one might think to be unprovable.
Cryptography deals with very human concerns---issues of privacy, authenticity,
and trust---but it does so in a way that is concrete and mathematical.
The word cryptography comes from the Latin crypt, meaning
secret, and graphia, meaning writing. So cryptography is literally secret writing: the study of
how to obscure what you write so as to render it unintelligible to those who should
not read it. Nowadays cryptography entails a lot more than finding good ways for
keeping your communications secret.
 

Contractor Agreement

The members of the CYPHER team: John Jemsek, Amarish Khopkar, Joon Ohh, Steve Park,
Rob Whitehurst, and Philip Ong hereby known as the contractors agree to provide fully
functional software that meets the specifications defined under Primary Requirements.
This software will be available to the Client no later than (your date here).
The contractors also agree that if time permits, there is a possibility of the software
containing added features outlined in sections Secondary Requirements and Tertiary Requirements,
however the contractors hold no responsibility for these requirements be met in the
final product. The contractors also agree to provide documentation and updated progress
reports for this project on the CYPHER web page.
 

Primary Requirements

• Implement statistical methods described in The Code Book, by Simon Singh as tools to aid in solving encoded messages
• Create a friendly but simple interface for using these tools
• Use of C++ for base algorithm coding
• Use of FLTK for interface
• Use on Unix

Secondary Requirements

• Compatibility for use on a PC OS
• Implementation of brute force algorithms as a secondary method for aid in decryption
• Networking to allow splitting of one problem among multiple computers

Alfred Graham Gash, hereby referred to as the Client, agrees to provide the contractors with the necessary
computing resources beyond those available to the contractors. Specifically, the client will act as a liaison
between the contractors and the Computer Science Department at UNC-Chapel Hill when the need arises.
If the client is unable to meet this requirement, thorough testig will be limited. Furthermore, the client agrees
to make himself available to respond to questions and comments in a timely fashion.