Researcher Publishes Paper Proving Coworker's Encryption Is Weak, Coworker Not Speaking To Him

A cryptography researcher at a major university has published a peer-reviewed paper demonstrating fundamental weaknesses in an encryption scheme designed by his colleague in the adjacent office, creating what the department chair has described as "the most uncomfortable hallway in computer science." Dr. Leo Galois published "On the Practical Insecurity of the StreamGuard Symmetric Cipher" in the proceedings of CRYPTO 2025, the field's most prestigious conference. StreamGuard was designed by Dr. Hideki Sato, who sits approximately fourteen feet from Dr. Galois and whose office door has been closed continuously since the paper's acceptance was announced. "The work is scientifically sound," said Dr. Galois. "I identified a related-key attack that reduces the effective key space by a factor of 2^40. This is a significant finding. I followed responsible disclosure procedures. I emailed Hideki before submission." Dr. Sato's response to the disclosure email, obtained through a public records request, consisted of three words: "I see. Thanks." The two researchers, who had previously co-authored four papers and shared a coffee machine, have not spoken in person since the acceptance notification. Department colleagues report that Dr. Sato has moved the shared coffee machine entirely into his own office and replaced the hallway's previously communal whiteboard with a new one bearing the message "RESERVED - STREAMGUARD REVISION IN PROGRESS." Dr. Galois maintains that breaking colleagues' ciphers is a normal and healthy part of the cryptographic research process. "This is how the field advances," he said. "If your cipher survives analysis, it's stronger for it. If it doesn't, you build a better one. There's nothing personal about it." Dr. Sato, when reached by email, responded: "I have no comment on the paper. I am working on StreamGuard v2. It will be resistant to all known attacks. Including Leo's. Especially Leo's." The department holiday party is in three weeks. The chair is considering assigned seating.