Blowfish on "24"

Two nights ago, my encryption algorithm Blowfish was mentioned on the Fox show “24.” An alleged computer expert from the fictional anti-terror agency CTU was trying to retrieve some files from a terrorist’s laptop. This is the exchange between the agent and the terrorist’s girlfriend:

They used Blowfish algorithm. How can you tell? By the tab on the file headers. Can you decrypt it? CTU has a proprietary algorithm. It shouldn’t take that long. We’ll start by trying to hack the password. Let’s start with the basics. Write down nicknames, birthdays, pets — anything you think he might have used.

Posted on April 27, 2005 at 12:26 PM • 114 Comments