Digital Fortress by Dan BrownHuman Mind is the Greatest Supercomputer!
In the material nature, which is composed of five elements, anything and everything is a mortal entity. Never immortal. The elemental energy, as it moves through the dimension of time-space, it changes several forms along the way. And therefore, each form is but only a transitory and mortal entity. The duration for which a particular form lasts, may vary from one form to the other, but there is a certain truth about every material form. That is, at one point in time, it is going to disintegrate, collapse and dissolve into its breakdown.
This fact about the world of material objects carries a 100% probability.
Now, what about the world of non-material objects? Objects, such as, thoughts…
Even these appearances we call as our ‘thoughts’ are nothing more than wavelets arising out of an ocean of gigantic memory – a memory which gets programmed in our human system, as we navigate a variety of experiences throughout lifetime. Even these thoughts, bubbling and falling all the time, have an expiry date. Even though, perhaps the cassette tape of these thoughts might never seem to come to a halt, however, over time, the content of these thoughts seem to break, dissipate and transform, especially if we pay attention to them.
This entity we call as the brain, is a magnanimously-intelligent computer, that churns out thoughts, bringing them to the light of our attention, wherein, the thought forms deconstruct and ultimately self-destruct themselves, settling back into the ocean from where they first emerged.
Alright.
Moving on and further, shall we ask, what about the world of technology? What about the program codes written in the memory of an actual computer, in order to facilitate its functioning?
Typically, in the community of hackers, cryptographers and programmers, the programs and codes are seen with the viewpoint of their ‘breakability’. That is, how easy or complex it is, for them, to break a certain code.
Above everything else, this pops up a series of questions for the one trying to break a piece of code. Questions such as,
“How easy or difficult it is to break this code?”
“Is there an unbreakable code?”
“If there exists an unbreakable code, then, what implications it can have, if it gets into the hands of someone with evil intentions?”
Well, this novel, titled Digital Fortress by Dan Brown is a techno-thriller that unfolds a story musing over scenarios like these in a twisty sequence of events packed and embedded cleverly into the story.
The story is mainly set in a location comprising of the handsome premises of a setting of tech-powered buildings which belong to the largest intelligence security agency of United States, named as NSA (National Security Agency). The job that NSA does is likely to the metaphor of the Big Brother. Which means that they have access to all the information belonging to the public as well as to the government. All this information, along with all the details of the encryption algorithms, is stored inside their gazillion-sized gigantic data banks. In short, the job of NSA is to be an invisible eye for securing the information from unethical access, as well as keeping a careful watch on the dangerous information exchanges from groups such as terrorist organizations, dark web communities, fraudulent activities, and so on…
They are the one who guard the guards of the national intelligence.
Top-of-the-line code-breakers and some of the most brilliant minds in cryptography work for NSA.
Well, above and beyond all this, NSA has created something which they are proud of, the most. NSA has a supercomputer called TRANSLTR. According to the commander of NSA, the TRANSLTR is the greatest and the most efficient supercomputer that can break any code.
Yet, one day, this computer encounters a code that it doesn’t seem to be able to break. The code keeps running and running in a loop. Which, not only wastes a large amount of their computer’s electrical power. but also blocks it from processing other codes pending in their queue. Worried, the commander of NSA, Trevor Strathmore calls their head cryptographer Susan Fletcher to check up on what was happening.
To their dismay, Strathmore and Susan discover that NSA is being held a hostage by this code which its creator calls as the ‘Digital Fortress’. The code was written by a former NSA employee Ensei Tankado, who had a personal enemity with NSA because he thought that they were doing an inethical job by keeping an intrusive eye on the personal information of the people of America. Being a genius cryptographer and almost a cult icon among hackers, Tankado warned NSA that they must reveal their intrusion to the public or either lose their supercomputer TRANSLTR to Digital Fortress, a code which he told them, was unbreakable. Besides, he warned them that if they were unable to reveal the truth to the public in a given span of time, he would release the unbreakable code worldwide, which would destroy NSA’s reputation, by giving access to NSA’s data bank to even a three-year old, forget about the terrorists, criminals and other secret communities. It was NSA’s job after all, to encrypt and protect the information of the government and its people.
Susan Fletcher, though the head cryptographer and a brilliant mathematician, was unable to crack this code. But at the same time, she couldn’t believe that there could be an unbreakable code. In cryptography, an unbreakable code is a mathematical impossibility.
Their only hope, if they had one, was to find a passkey, as quick as possible, which could stop this loopy code from running on TRANSLTR, and also prevent Tankado from releasing this unbreakable code to the public.
However, to multiply their trouble, they find that Tankado, the 32-year old cryptographer has died a sudden death in Spain. The NSA commander Strathmore sends David Becker to retrieve the passkey, which, according to their information, was lettered and engraved on a gold ring worn by Tankado. David, a professor who taught Linguistics and Modern Languages, was not directly connected to NSA, but being the fiancee of Susan Fletcher, was the only trustworthy person Strathmore could entrust with this secret.
Arriving in Spain, David finds that he has not only lost the ring from Tankado’s body, but he was being pursued by an unknown man whose name was Hulohot. Entrapped in a cat-and-mouse chase with Hulohot, each clue that David stumbles upon, makes him feel as if he is moving further and away from where the ring could be found.
On the other side, every moment running short of time, NSA’s Cryptography Division witnesses an unusual commotion. While Strathmore and Susan Fletcher are unable to arrive either at a conclusion or a decision, the rest of the employees, began to sense something strange going on. One of the employees, Phil Chartrukian, thinking that a bug has seeped into TRANSLTR, rushes to power off the computer, only to get burned in the power room.
As Susan pours her attention over and over to the Digital Fortress as well as to all the clues, startling reality is revealed, sending shivers down her spine, and breaking her heart to the core. Concluding that she cannot trust anybody, not even the NSA Commander Strathmore, she decides to escape from the Crypto as quick as possible, but finds herself locked inside the building which is completely automated by computers and technology.
Meanwhile, the departments in other buildings of NSA are also beginning to sense something suspicious going on in the Crypto division. But before they can do anything about it, the employees watch from the windows, as the domed metallic crypto building is fuming with volcanoes of molten metal and splinters of metallic chips fireworking like discolights through the entire Crypto building.
Nearly all the employees of the Crypto department present inside the building are burned to ashes. Susan Fletcher is able to escape.
Together with the NSA Director named Fontaine, Susan and some other employees of NSA, and David who is found half-unconscious in Spain, they are able to crack the passkey just in the last moment, which also freezes them into a stunning revelation.
Digital Fortress was nothing but a deception, a ghost. There was no such algorithm. Tankado had lured them to an illusion and NSA had taken the bait by believing that there actually was an algorithm with an unbreakable code. Lured, frightened and taken into his trap, NSA’s Commander Strathmore had bypassed the security virus filters and had unconsciously participated in allowing this Digital Fortress algorithm to run on their supercomputer. While Tankado had simply written a delusory code, and fearing the unbreakability, NSA had bypassed their security checks, letting the Digital Fortress to disrupt the functioning of their own supercomputer (TRANSLTR).
Though, in the end, the passkey they find is able to prevent their data banks from getting leaked into the public, and secure their supercomputer.
All in all, the book is an intruiging and immersive work of fiction, mainly relating to the themes of mystery, suspense, technological thriller, government surveillance, adventure fiction and science fiction.
The scenes are written and depicted in a way that not only keeps the reader’s attention immersed and gripped, but also enables the experience of a curious tension building up over time, as we flip through the chapters. No wonder, the storyline is a magnetic tangle of plot twists, but at the same time, it is quite insightful and thought-provoking too, especially when we talk about the present day, in the age when the digital transformation is rapidly taking over the globe…
Wrapping it all up, Digital Fortress is a brilliant work of fiction that leaves us with an imprint worthy of deep reflection…that is,
Great supercomputers appear and disappear. But human mind is the greatest supercomputer, the greatest of all, the most mysterious of all. So, operate wisely!
Read all the review pieces written by me! | Follow on Goodreads!
Subscribe: Neha's Notebook | My Little library | Raindrop Stories
They are the one who guard the guards of the national intelligence.
Top-of-the-line code-breakers and some of the most brilliant minds in cryptography work for NSA.
Well, above and beyond all this, NSA has created something which they are proud of, the most. NSA has a supercomputer called TRANSLTR. According to the commander of NSA, the TRANSLTR is the greatest and the most efficient supercomputer that can break any code.
Yet, one day, this computer encounters a code that it doesn’t seem to be able to break. The code keeps running and running in a loop. Which, not only wastes a large amount of their computer’s electrical power. but also blocks it from processing other codes pending in their queue. Worried, the commander of NSA, Trevor Strathmore calls their head cryptographer Susan Fletcher to check up on what was happening.
To their dismay, Strathmore and Susan discover that NSA is being held a hostage by this code which its creator calls as the ‘Digital Fortress’. The code was written by a former NSA employee Ensei Tankado, who had a personal enemity with NSA because he thought that they were doing an inethical job by keeping an intrusive eye on the personal information of the people of America. Being a genius cryptographer and almost a cult icon among hackers, Tankado warned NSA that they must reveal their intrusion to the public or either lose their supercomputer TRANSLTR to Digital Fortress, a code which he told them, was unbreakable. Besides, he warned them that if they were unable to reveal the truth to the public in a given span of time, he would release the unbreakable code worldwide, which would destroy NSA’s reputation, by giving access to NSA’s data bank to even a three-year old, forget about the terrorists, criminals and other secret communities. It was NSA’s job after all, to encrypt and protect the information of the government and its people.
Susan Fletcher, though the head cryptographer and a brilliant mathematician, was unable to crack this code. But at the same time, she couldn’t believe that there could be an unbreakable code. In cryptography, an unbreakable code is a mathematical impossibility.
Their only hope, if they had one, was to find a passkey, as quick as possible, which could stop this loopy code from running on TRANSLTR, and also prevent Tankado from releasing this unbreakable code to the public.
However, to multiply their trouble, they find that Tankado, the 32-year old cryptographer has died a sudden death in Spain. The NSA commander Strathmore sends David Becker to retrieve the passkey, which, according to their information, was lettered and engraved on a gold ring worn by Tankado. David, a professor who taught Linguistics and Modern Languages, was not directly connected to NSA, but being the fiancee of Susan Fletcher, was the only trustworthy person Strathmore could entrust with this secret.
Arriving in Spain, David finds that he has not only lost the ring from Tankado’s body, but he was being pursued by an unknown man whose name was Hulohot. Entrapped in a cat-and-mouse chase with Hulohot, each clue that David stumbles upon, makes him feel as if he is moving further and away from where the ring could be found.
On the other side, every moment running short of time, NSA’s Cryptography Division witnesses an unusual commotion. While Strathmore and Susan Fletcher are unable to arrive either at a conclusion or a decision, the rest of the employees, began to sense something strange going on. One of the employees, Phil Chartrukian, thinking that a bug has seeped into TRANSLTR, rushes to power off the computer, only to get burned in the power room.
As Susan pours her attention over and over to the Digital Fortress as well as to all the clues, startling reality is revealed, sending shivers down her spine, and breaking her heart to the core. Concluding that she cannot trust anybody, not even the NSA Commander Strathmore, she decides to escape from the Crypto as quick as possible, but finds herself locked inside the building which is completely automated by computers and technology.
Meanwhile, the departments in other buildings of NSA are also beginning to sense something suspicious going on in the Crypto division. But before they can do anything about it, the employees watch from the windows, as the domed metallic crypto building is fuming with volcanoes of molten metal and splinters of metallic chips fireworking like discolights through the entire Crypto building.
Nearly all the employees of the Crypto department present inside the building are burned to ashes. Susan Fletcher is able to escape.
Together with the NSA Director named Fontaine, Susan and some other employees of NSA, and David who is found half-unconscious in Spain, they are able to crack the passkey just in the last moment, which also freezes them into a stunning revelation.
Digital Fortress was nothing but a deception, a ghost. There was no such algorithm. Tankado had lured them to an illusion and NSA had taken the bait by believing that there actually was an algorithm with an unbreakable code. Lured, frightened and taken into his trap, NSA’s Commander Strathmore had bypassed the security virus filters and had unconsciously participated in allowing this Digital Fortress algorithm to run on their supercomputer. While Tankado had simply written a delusory code, and fearing the unbreakability, NSA had bypassed their security checks, letting the Digital Fortress to disrupt the functioning of their own supercomputer (TRANSLTR).
Though, in the end, the passkey they find is able to prevent their data banks from getting leaked into the public, and secure their supercomputer.
All in all, the book is an intruiging and immersive work of fiction, mainly relating to the themes of mystery, suspense, technological thriller, government surveillance, adventure fiction and science fiction.
The scenes are written and depicted in a way that not only keeps the reader’s attention immersed and gripped, but also enables the experience of a curious tension building up over time, as we flip through the chapters. No wonder, the storyline is a magnetic tangle of plot twists, but at the same time, it is quite insightful and thought-provoking too, especially when we talk about the present day, in the age when the digital transformation is rapidly taking over the globe…
Wrapping it all up, Digital Fortress is a brilliant work of fiction that leaves us with an imprint worthy of deep reflection…that is,
Great supercomputers appear and disappear. But human mind is the greatest supercomputer, the greatest of all, the most mysterious of all. So, operate wisely!
Read all the review pieces written by me! | Follow on Goodreads!
Subscribe: Neha's Notebook | My Little library | Raindrop Stories
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