Defection to the Soviet Union

Date: June 25, 1960 • Location: Fort George G Mead Junction, United States

Two cryptographers working for the U.S. National Security Agency left on vacation to Mexico, and proceeded to defect to the Soviet Union.

Cryptography, or cryptology, is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adversarial behavior. More generally, cryptography is about constructing and analyzing protocols that prevent third parties or the public from reading private messages. Modern cryptography exists at the intersection of the disciplines of mathematics, computer science, information security, electrical engineering, digital signal processing, physics, and others. Core concepts related to information security are also central to cryptography. Practical applications of cryptography include electronic commerce, chip-based payment cards, digital currencies, computer passwords and military communications.