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| Digital Fortress | |
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 First edition cover |
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| Author | Dan Brown |
| Country | United States United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction Techno-thriller |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press Transworld (United Kingdom) |
| Publication date | 1998 |
| Media type | Print (hardback, paperback and audiobook) |
| ISBN | 0-312-26312-0 |
| OCLC Number | 55045760 |
| Followed by | Angels & Demons |
Digital Fortress is a techno-thriller novel written by American author Dan Brown and published in 1998 by St. Martin's Press. The book explores the theme of government surveillance of electronically stored information on the private lives of citizens, and the possible civil liberties and ethical implications using such technology.
Contents |
Characters
- Susan Fletcher - The NSA's Head Cryptographer, and the story's lead character
- David Becker - A university professor on languages and the fiancée of Susan Fletcher
- Ensei Tankado - A disgruntled former NSA employee
- Commander Trevor Strathmore - NSA Deputy Director of Operations and the main antagonist
- Phil Chartrukian - Sys-Sec Technician
- Greg Hale - NSA employee
Plot summary
When the United States' National Security Agency's code-breaking machine (TRANSLTR) encounters a mysterious and ingeniously complex code called Digital Fortress that it cannot break, Commander Trevor Strathmore calls in Susan Fletcher, a brilliant mathematician and their head cryptographer, to crack it. She discovers that it was written by Ensei Tankado, a former NSA employee who became displeased with the NSA's intrusion into people's private lives. Tankado intends to auction the code's algorithm on his website and have his partner, North Dakota, release it for free if he dies. Essentially holding the NSA hostage, the agency is determined to stop Digital Fortress from becoming a threat to national security.
When Tankado indeed dies in Seville, Spain, of what appears to be a heart attack, Strathmore sends David Becker (Susan's fiancee) to Seville to recover the ring Tankado was wearing when he died. The ring is rumored to have the code that unlocks Digital Fortress. However, he soon discovers that Tankado gave the ring away immediately before his death. Each person that Becker questions in the search for the ring is murdered one-by-one by Hulohot, a mysterious assassin.
Meanwhile, telephone calls between "North Dakota" and Numataka (chairman of a large computer company in Tokyo, Japan) reveal that North Dakota hired Hulohot to kill Tankado in order to gain access to the passcode on his ring and speed up the release of the algorithm. At the NSA, Fletcher's investigation leads her to believe that Greg Hale, a fellow NSA employee, is North Dakota. Phil Chartrukian, an NSA technician, conducts his own investigation into whether Strathmore allowed Digital Fortress to bypass Gauntlet (NSA's virus/worm filter). However, Chartrukian is murdered in the sub-levels of TRANSLTR by an unknown assailant. Since Hale and Strathmore were both in the sub-levels, Fletcher assumes that Hale is the killer; however, Hale claims that he witnessed Strathmore killing Chartrukian.
Hale holds Fletcher and Strathmore hostage to prevent himself from being arrested for the murder. It is then that Hale explains that the e-mail he supposedly "received" from Tankado was actually in his inbox because he was snooping on Strathmore, who was also watching Tankado's e-mail account. After the encounter, Hale's name is cleared when Fletcher discovers through a tracer that North Dakota and Ensei Tankado are actually the same person. Strathmore's role as the primary antagonist is revealed when Strathmore fatally shoots Hale, and arranges it to appear as a suicide. Susan later discovers through Strathmore's pager that he is the one who hired Hulohot. Becker later kills Hulohot in a violent confrontation.
Chapters told from Strathmore's perspective reveal his motives. By hiring Hulohot to kill Tankado, having Becker recover his ring, and having Hulohot kill him, he would be able to have a romantic relationship with Fletcher and also be able to unlock Digital Fortress. By making phone calls to Numataka impersonating as "North Dakota", he thought he could partner with Numataka Corporation to make a Digital Fortress chip equipped with his own backdoor Trojan so that the NSA can spy on every computer equipped with these chips. However, Strathmore didn't know that Digital Fortress is actually a computer worm once unlocked, "eating away" at the NSA databank's security and allowing "any third-grader with Internet access" to look at government secrets. When TRANSLTR overheats, Strathmore commits suicide by standing next to the machine while it explodes. Eventually, the NSA disables the worm before the databank is made accessible to the public. The NSA allows Becker to return to the United States, reuniting him with Fletcher.
References
External links
- Digital Fortress page at Mathematical Fiction Alex Kasman's site includes a forum, critique of the math/computing, and his solution to the code.
- Rob Slade's review of Digital Fortress The book is reviewed "on the basis of technology, including the fiction".
- (Spanish) Criticism in the Spanish-language Epoca of the book's description of locations in Seville
- Matt Crypto lists some errors in the book
- Dan Brown Official Website
- Dan Brown Official UK Website
- Dan Brown Official Australian Website
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