Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems

E3531

journal article scientific paper

Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems is Claude Shannon’s foundational paper that established the mathematical basis of modern cryptography and information-theoretic security.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems canonical	2
Claude Shannon’s paper "Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems"	1
information-theoretic cryptography	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T26950 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems
Context triple: [Claude Shannon, notableWork, Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems]

A. A Mathematical Theory of Communication
A Mathematical Theory of Communication is Claude Shannon’s landmark 1948 paper that founded information theory by rigorously defining concepts like information, entropy, and channel capacity.
B. The Essence of Security
"The Essence of Security" is a book by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara that outlines his views on national security, nuclear strategy, and defense policy during the Cold War.
C. The Computer as a Communication Device
"The Computer as a Communication Device" is a seminal 1968 essay by J.C.R. Licklider that envisioned interactive, networked computing as a medium for human collaboration and communication, foreshadowing the modern internet.
D. IRE Transactions on Communications Systems
IRE Transactions on Communications Systems was a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Institute of Radio Engineers that focused on research in communication theory, systems, and related technologies.
E. Shannon entropy
Shannon entropy is a fundamental measure in information theory that quantifies the average uncertainty or information content in a random variable or message source.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems
Target entity description: Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems is Claude Shannon’s foundational paper that established the mathematical basis of modern cryptography and information-theoretic security.

A. A Mathematical Theory of Communication
A Mathematical Theory of Communication is Claude Shannon’s landmark 1948 paper that founded information theory by rigorously defining concepts like information, entropy, and channel capacity.
B. The Essence of Security
"The Essence of Security" is a book by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara that outlines his views on national security, nuclear strategy, and defense policy during the Cold War.
C. The Computer as a Communication Device
"The Computer as a Communication Device" is a seminal 1968 essay by J.C.R. Licklider that envisioned interactive, networked computing as a medium for human collaboration and communication, foreshadowing the modern internet.
D. IRE Transactions on Communications Systems
IRE Transactions on Communications Systems was a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Institute of Radio Engineers that focused on research in communication theory, systems, and related technologies.
E. Shannon entropy
Shannon entropy is a fundamental measure in information theory that quantifies the average uncertainty or information content in a random variable or message source.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	journal article ⓘ scientific paper ⓘ
appliesConcept	entropy ⓘ equivocation ⓘ mutual information ⓘ
author	Claude E. Shannon ⓘ linked to: Claude Shannon Claude Shannon ⓘ
basedOnWorkCompletedDuring	World War II ⓘ
citedAs	Shannon 1949 secrecy paper ⓘ
conclusion	unbreakable secrecy is possible with appropriate key and system design ⓘ
countryOfPublication	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
definesConcept	perfect secrecy ⓘ
demonstrates	limits of secrecy with finite key length ⓘ relationship between redundancy and cryptanalytic effort ⓘ
establishesConditionFor	perfect secrecy ⓘ
field	communication theory ⓘ cryptography ⓘ information theory ⓘ
hasAbbreviation	CTSS ⓘ
hasCentralConcept	redundancy of the language ⓘ uncertainty of the key ⓘ unicity distance ⓘ
impact	formalization of secrecy in probabilistic terms ⓘ foundation of information-theoretic security ⓘ
influencedField	information-theoretic cryptography ⓘ modern cryptography ⓘ secure communications ⓘ
introducesConcept	information-theoretic security ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
originalCompletionYear	1945 ⓘ
pages	656–715 ⓘ
publicationYear	1949 ⓘ
publishedIn	Bell System Technical Journal ⓘ
publisher	Bell Telephone Laboratories ⓘ
relatedWork	A Mathematical Theory of Communication ⓘ
showsPropertyOf	one-time pad ⓘ perfectly secret cipher ⓘ
subjectOf	historical analyses of cryptography ⓘ surveys on information-theoretic security ⓘ
topic	cipher systems ⓘ cryptanalysis ⓘ encryption ⓘ key distribution ⓘ one-time pad ⓘ secrecy systems ⓘ
usesModel	noisy communication channel ⓘ stochastic processes ⓘ
volume	28 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Claude Shannon → notableWork → Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems ⓘ

CTSS → standsFor → Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems ⓘ

CTSS → refersTo → Claude Shannon’s paper "Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems" ⓘ

linked to: Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems

Ueli Maurer → notableWork → information-theoretic cryptography ⓘ