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{{short description|Novel by Dan Brown}} | |||
{{pp-protected|expiry=2013-08-11T19:42:50Z|small=yes}} | |||
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2013}} | |||
{{Infobox book| <!-- See ] or ] --> | |||
{{Infobox book| | |||
| name = Digital Fortress | | name = Digital Fortress | ||
| title_orig = | | title_orig = | ||
| translator = | | translator = | ||
| image = |
| image = Image:DigitalFortress.jpg | ||
| |
| caption = First edition cover | ||
| author = ] |
| author = ] | ||
| illustrator = | | illustrator = | ||
| cover_artist = | | cover_artist = | ||
Line 12: | Line 13: | ||
| language = English | | language = English | ||
| series = | | series = | ||
| genre = ]<br/> ] | | genre = ]<br/> ] | ||
| publisher = ] ] (United Kingdom) | | publisher = ]<br/> ] (United Kingdom) | ||
| release_date = 1998 | | release_date = 1998 | ||
| english_release_date = | | english_release_date = | ||
| media_type = Print ( |
| media_type = Print (hardback, paperback), ] | ||
| isbn = 0-312-18087-X | |||
| pages = | |||
| |
| isbn_note = (first edition hardcover) | ||
| oclc= 55045760 | | oclc= 55045760 | ||
| preceded_by = | |||
| followed_by = ] | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''''Digital Fortress''''' is a ] novel written by American author ] and published in 1998 by ]. The book explores the theme of |
'''''Digital Fortress''''' is a ] novel written by American author ] and published in 1998 by ]. The book explores the theme of government surveillance of electronically stored information on the private lives of citizens, and the possible ] and ethical implications of using such technology. | ||
== |
==Plot summary== | ||
When the United States ]'s code-breaking ] |
The story is set in 1996. When the United States ]'s (NSA) code-breaking ] TRANSLTR encounters a revolutionary new code, ''Digital Fortress,'' that it cannot break, Commander Trevor Strathmore calls in head cryptographer Susan Fletcher to crack it. She is informed by Strathmore that it was written by Ensei Tankado, a former NSA employee who became displeased with the NSA's intrusion into people's private lives. If the NSA doesn't reveal TRANSLTR to the public, 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. Strathmore tells Fletcher that Tankado has in fact died in ] at the age of 32, of what appears to be a heart attack. Strathmore intends to keep Tankado's death a secret because if Tankado's partner finds out, he will upload the code. The agency is determined to stop Digital Fortress from becoming a threat to national security. | ||
Strathmore asks Fletcher's fiancé David Becker to travel to Seville and recover a ring that Tankado was wearing when he died. The ring is suspected to have the passcode that unlocks Digital Fortress. However, Becker soon discovers that Tankado gave the ring away just before his death. Unbeknown to Becker, a mysterious figure, named Hulohot, follows him, and murders each person he questions in the search for the ring. Unsurprisingly, Hulohot's final attempt would be on Becker himself. | |||
Meanwhile, telephone calls between |
Meanwhile, telephone calls between North Dakota and Tokugen Numataka 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 who is unaware of the Digital Fortress code breaking failure and believes Digital Fortress to be a virus, conducts his own investigation into whether Strathmore allowed Digital Fortress to bypass Gauntlet, the NSA's virus/worm filter. To save the TRANSLTR Phil decides to shut it down but is murdered after being pushed off 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. Chartrukian's fall also damages TRANSLTR's cooling system. | |||
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, as "NDAKOTA" is an anagram of "Tankado". 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. | |||
Hale holds Fletcher and Strathmore hostage to prevent himself from being arrested for Phil's murder. It is then that Hale explains to Fletcher, the e-mail he supposedly received from Tankado was also in Strathmore's inbox, as Strathmore was snooping on Tankado. Fletcher discovers through a tracer that North Dakota and Ensei Tankado are the same person, as "NDAKOTA" is an anagram of "Tankado." | |||
Chapters told from Strathmore's perspective reveal his motives. By hiring Hulohot to kill Tankado, having Becker recover his ring, and at the same time arranging for Hulohot to kill him, would help facilitate a romantic relationship with Fletcher, regaining his lost honor, and enable him 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 was unaware that Digital Fortress is actually a computer worm once unlocked, "eating away" at the NSA databank's security and allowing "any third-grader with a modem" to look at government secrets. When TRANSLTR overheats, Strathmore commits suicide by standing next to the machine as it explodes. The worm eventually gets into the database, but soon after Fletcher figures out the password, and is able to terminate the worm before hackers can get any significant data. The NSA allows Becker to return to the United States, reuniting him with Fletcher. At last it is revealed that Numataka is Ensei Tankado's father. Numataka left Tankado the day he was born since Tankado was a deformed child. | |||
Strathmore kills Hale and arranges it to appear as a suicide. Fletcher later discovers through Strathmore's pager that he is the one who hired Hulohot. Becker manages to track down the ring, but ends up pursued by Hulohot in a long cat-and-mouse chase across Seville. The two eventually face off in a cathedral, where Becker finally kills Hulohot by tripping him down a spiral staircase, causing him to break his neck. He is then intercepted by NSA field agents sent by Leland Fontaine, the director of the NSA. | |||
Chapters told from Strathmore's perspective reveal his master plan. By hiring Hulohot to kill Tankado, having Becker recover his ring and at the same time arranging for Hulohot to kill Becker, he would facilitate a romantic relationship with Fletcher, regaining his lost honor. He has also been working incessantly for many months to unlock Digital Fortress, installing a backdoor inside the program. By making phone calls to Numataka posing as North Dakota, he thought he could partner with Numatech to make a Digital Fortress chip equipped with his own backdoor Trojan. Finally, he would reveal to the world the existence of TRANSLTR, boasting it would be able to crack all the codes except Digital Fortress, making everyone rush to use the computer chip equipped with Digital Fortress so that the NSA could spy on every computer equipped with these chips. | |||
However, Strathmore was unaware that Digital Fortress is actually a computer worm that, once unlocked would "eat away" all the NSA databank's security and allow "any third-grader with a modem" to look at government secrets. When TRANSLTR overheats, Strathmore dies by standing next to the machine as it explodes. The worm eventually gets into the database, but Becker figures out the passcode just seconds before the last defenses fall (3, which is the difference between the Hiroshima nuclear bomb, Isotope 235, and the Nagasaki nuclear bomb, isotope 238, a reference to the ] that killed Tankado's mother and left him crippled), and Fletcher is able to terminate the worm before hackers can get any significant data. The NSA allows Becker to return to the United States, reuniting him with Fletcher. | |||
In the epilogue, it is revealed that Numataka was Ensei Tankado's father who left Tankado the day he was born due to Tankado's deformity. As Tankado's last living relative, Numataka inherits the rest of Tankado's possessions. | |||
==Characters== | ==Characters== | ||
*'''Susan Fletcher''' |
*'''Susan Fletcher''' – The NSA's Head Cryptographer, and the story's lead character | ||
*'''David Becker''' |
*'''David Becker''' – A Professor of Modern Languages and the fiancé of Susan Fletcher | ||
*'''Ensei Tankado''' |
*'''Ensei Tankado''' – The author of ''Digital Fortress'' and a disgruntled former NSA employee. | ||
*'''Commander Trevor Strathmore''' |
*'''Commander Trevor Strathmore''' – NSA Deputy Director of Operations, second commander in chief | ||
*'''Phil Chartrukian''' |
*'''Phil Chartrukian''' – NSA Technician | ||
*'''Greg Hale''' |
*'''Greg Hale''' – NSA Cryptographer | ||
*'''Leland Fontaine''' |
*'''Leland Fontaine''' – Director of NSA | ||
*''' |
*'''Hulohot''' – an assassin hired by Strathmore to locate the Passkey | ||
*'''Midge Milken''' |
*'''Midge Milken''' – Fontaine's internal security analyst | ||
*'''Chad Brinkerhoff''' |
*'''Chad Brinkerhoff''' – Fontaine's personal assistant | ||
*'''"Jabba"''' |
*'''"Jabba"''' – NSA's senior System Security Officer | ||
*'''Soshi Kuta''' – Jabba's head technician and assistant | |||
*'''Tokugen Numataka''' — Japanese Executive attempting to purchase ''Digital Fortress''. | |||
*'''Tokugen Numataka''' – Chairman of Japanese company Numatech attempting to purchase ''Digital Fortress''. It is revealed in the Epilogue that Numataka is Tankado's father | |||
==Inaccuracies and criticism== | |||
==Real life scenarios== | |||
The book was criticized by ''GCN'' for portraying facts about the NSA incorrectly and for misunderstanding the technology in the book, especially for the time when it was published.<ref>{{cite news |last=Breen II |first=John |title=Why can't novels get technology right? |work=GCN |publisher=Public Sector Media Group |location=United States |date=2011-08-02 |url=https://gcn.com/articles/2011/08/02/why-dont-authors-get-technology-right.aspx |access-date=2017-10-14 |archive-date=October 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014233724/https://gcn.com/articles/2011/08/02/why-dont-authors-get-technology-right.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
The book is loosely based around recent history of ]. In 1976 the ] (DES) was approved with a 56-bit key rather than the ] key originally proposed. It was widely believed that the ] had pushed through this reduction in security on the assumption that it could crack codes before anyone else.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2227|title=Has the DES been broken?|publisher=RSA Labs}}</ref> | |||
In 2005, the town hall of the Spanish city of Seville invited Dan Brown to visit the city, in order to dispel the inaccuracies about Seville that Brown represented within the book.<ref>{{cite news |last=Nash |first=Elizabeth |title=Dan Brown: Seville smells and is corrupt. City: You come here and say that |work=The Independent |location=United Kingdom |date=2005-08-27 |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/dan-brown-seville-smells-and-is-corrupt-city-you-come-here-and-say-that-308609.html |access-date=2017-10-14}}</ref> | |||
In fact the DES was first publicly broken in 1997, 96 days after the first of the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.distributed.net/history.php|title=Distributed net|accessdate=2010-06-18}}</ref> In 1998, the same year as Digital Fortress was published, the ] (featured in the book) built a piece of hardware costing less than $250,000 called the ] which broke it in 56 hours and by 1999 the record was under 24 hours.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.cnet.com/Record-set-in-cracking-56-bit-crypto/2100-1017_3-220333.html|publisher=CNet |title= Record set in cracking 56-bit crypto|accessdate=2010-06-18}}</ref> | |||
Although ] was used in the bomb on Hiroshima, the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki used ] (created from U-238). ] is non-fissile. | |||
The ] used by TRANSLTR takes twice as long for each extra bit added to the key (if this is done sensibly), so the reaction of the industry has understandably been to lengthen the key. The ] established in 2001 uses 128, 192 or 256 bits, which take at least 10<sup>21</sup> times as long (i.e. 2<sup>70</sup>) to solve by this technique.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/03/business/technology-us-selects-a-new-encryption-technique.html| title=TECHNOLOGY; U.S. Selects a New Encryption Technique|work=New York Times|accessdate=2010-06-18 | first=John | last=Schwartz | date=2000-10-03}}</ref> | |||
Julius Caesar's cypher was not as simple as the one described in the novel, based on square numbers. In '']'' by ] it is described as a transposition cypher which was undecipherable until centuries later. | |||
Unbreakable codes are not new to the industry. The ], invented in 1917 and used for the cold-war era ], was proved to be unconditionally secure by ] in 1949 when properly implemented.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Shannon, Claude.|title=Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems|publisher=Bell System Technical Journal|volume=28('''4''')|page=656–715|date=1949}}</ref> However it is inconvenient to use in practice and is limited mainly to military and governments.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/s-pads.html|title=Software security for developers: One-time pads|author=Gary McGraw, John Viega|publisher=IBM|accessdate=2010-11-02}}</ref> | |||
The story behind the meaning of "sincere" is based on ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=sincere|title = Sincere | Search Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref> | |||
==Foreign language editions== | |||
The following is a list of foreign language editions of the novel. This is not a list of foreign language Wikipedias with an article on the novel, but merely editions in which the novel was printed. Those that are listed here are linked to the article on the novel on that language's Misplaced Pages. Foreign language Wikipedias that feature an article on the novel but in which an edition of the novel was not printed are not listed here, but in the sidebar to the left of the article. | |||
It is also untrue that in Spain (or in any other ] country) that the ] takes place at the beginning of ]; Communion takes place very near the end. | |||
Editions that feature the title "Digital Fortress" on the cover in both English and in that foreign language indicate this in parenthesis. | |||
<!-- DO NOT PUT A LINK TO A FOREIGN WIKIPEDIA WITHOUT A CITATION SUPPORTING THAT THE NOVEL WAS PRINTED IN THAT LANGUAGE. THIS LIST IS ONLY FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDITIONS OF THE **NOVEL**, NOT OF THIS ARTICLE. FOREIGN WIKIPEDIAS WITH AN ARTICLE ON THE NOVEL, BUT IN WHICH THE NOVEL WAS NOT PRINTED ARE IN THE SIDEBAR ON THE LEFT.--> | |||
In 2020, the book was featured on the podcast '']'', which critiques literature deemed low-quality. | |||
*'']'' - ]<ref>. ]. Accessed May 25, 2012.</ref> | |||
*'']'' - Brazil<ref name=BrownSite></ref> | |||
*''Цифрова крепост'' - Bulgarian<ref name=BrownSite/> | |||
*'']'' - Danish<ref>. Department of the Danish National Library. Accessed November 13, 2011</ref><ref> (publisher in Denmark); Accessed November 13, 2011</ref> | |||
*'']'' – Dutch<ref name=BrownSite/><ref></ref> | |||
*'']'' - Chinese<ref name=BrownSite/> | |||
*''Digitaalne kindlus'' - Estonian<ref> at Ester Kallinn E-Katalog]; Accessed October 15, 2010</ref> | |||
*'']'' - German<ref name=BrownSite/> | |||
*'']'' - Hebrew<ref name=BrownSite/> | |||
*'']'' – Hungarian<ref></ref> | |||
*''디지털 포트리스'' - Korean<ref name=BrownSite/> | |||
*''Ciparu cietoksnis'' - Latvian<ref> at Jānis Roze, Accessed October 31, 2010</ref> | |||
*'']'' - Lithuanian<ref>. manoknyga.lt. Retrieved December 19, 2011.</ref> | |||
*'']'' - Macedonian<ref> at magor.com.mk (Magor is the publisher). Retrieved June 4, 2012.</ref><ref></ref> | |||
*'']'' - Polish<ref name=BrownSite/> | |||
*'']'' - Portugal<ref name=BrownSite/> | |||
*'']'' - Romanian<ref name=BrownSite/> | |||
*'']'' - Russia<ref>{{cite web |author= |date=8 August 2006|url=http://www.ast.ru/item/617328/ |title=Цифровая крепость|language=Russian |publisher=Publishing house “AST”|accessdate=17 April 2010}}</ref> | |||
*'']'' - Serbian<ref name=BrownSite/> | |||
*'']'' - Slovak<ref name=BrownSite/><ref> at Shop.sk; Accessed August 11, 2010</ref> | |||
*''Digitalna Trdnjava'' - Slovene<ref name=BrownSite/> | |||
*'']'' - Spanish<ref name=BrownSite/> | |||
*'']'' - Swedish<ref name=BrownSite/> | |||
*''ล่ารหัสมรณะ'' (Digital Fortress) - Thai<ref name=BrownSite/> | |||
<!-- DO NOT PUT A LINK TO A FOREIGN WIKIPEDIA HERE UNLESS THE NOVEL WAS PRINTED IN THAT LANGUAGE. THIS LIST IS ONLY FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDITIONS OF THE **NOVEL**, NOT OF THIS ARTICLE. FOREIGN WIKIPEDIAS WITH AN ARTICLE ON THE NOVEL, BUT IN WHICH THE NOVEL WAS NOT PRINTED ARE IN THE SIDEBAR ON THE LEFT. MAKE SURE YOU CITE YOUR SOURCE IF YOU ADD AN EDITION.--> | |||
==Television adaptation== | |||
== See also == | |||
] announced in 2014 that it is set to produce a television series based on ''Digital Fortress'', to be written by Josh Goldin and Rachel Abramowitz.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://deadline.com/2014/09/digital-fortress-show-dan-brown-abc-833393|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912141329/http://deadline.com/2014/09/digital-fortress-show-dan-brown-abc-833393/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 12, 2014|title=ABC Nabs Adaptation Of Dan Brown's 'Digital Fortress' From Imagine & 20th TV|website=]|access-date=October 21, 2014|first=Nellie|last=Andreeva|date=September 11, 2014}}</ref> | |||
==Translations== | |||
{{Expand list|date=January 2015}} | |||
''Digital Fortress'' has been widely translated: | |||
* Estonian as ''Digitaalne Kindlus'' | |||
* Azerbaijani as ''Rəqəmsal Qala'', {{ISBN|978-9952-26-426-5}} | |||
* French as ''Forteresse Digitale'', {{ISBN|978-2-253-12707-9}} | |||
* Arabic as ''الحصن الرقمي'', {{ISBN|9953299129}}, 2005, Arab Scientific Publishers | |||
* Dutch as ''Het Juvenalis Dilemma'', {{ISBN|9789024553020}} | |||
* Korean as 디지털 포트리스 | |||
* German as ''Diabolus'', {{ISBN|978-3785721940}} | |||
* Bosnian as ''Digitalna tvrđava'' | |||
* Portuguese as ''Fortaleza Digital'', {{ISBN|972-25-1469-5}} | |||
* Indonesian as ''Benteng Digital'', {{ISBN|9791600910}} | |||
* Turkish as ''Dijital Kale'', {{ISBN|978-975-21-1165-3}} | |||
* Danish as ''Tankados Kode'' | |||
* Hebrew as שם הצופן: מבצר דיגיטלי | |||
* Slovak as ''Digitálna pevnosť'', {{ISBN|80-7145-9917}} | |||
* Bulgarian as Цифрова крепост, {{ISBN|978-954-584-0173}} | |||
* Hungarian as ''Digitális erőd'', {{ISBN|978-963-689-3460}} | |||
* Vietnamese as ''Pháo đài số'', {{ISBN|978-604-50-2946-6}} | |||
* Greek as ΨΗΦΙΑΚΟ ΟΧΥΡΟ, {{ISBN|960-14-1101-1}} | |||
* Serbian as Дигитална тврђава | |||
* ] as قلعهی دیجیتالی | |||
* Macedonian as Дигитална тврдина | |||
* Russian as Цифровая крепость | |||
* Spanish as ''La Fortaleza Digital'', {{ISBN|8489367019}} | |||
* Romanian as ''Fortăreața digitală'' | |||
* Czech as ''Digitální pevnost'' | |||
* Ukrainian as Цифрова фортеця | |||
* Finnish as ''Murtamaton linnake'' | |||
* Swedish as ''Gåtornas Palats'', {{ISBN|9789100107161}} | |||
* Norwegian as ''Den Digitale Festning'' | |||
* Italian as ''Crypto'', {{ISBN|978-880-45-7191-9}} | |||
* Polish as ''Cyfrowa twierdza'', {{ISBN|978-83-7885-752-5}} | |||
* Albanian as ''Diabolus'' | |||
* Traditional Chinese as 數位密碼 | |||
* Simplified Chinese as 数字城堡 | |||
* Slovene as ''Digitalna trdnjava'' | |||
* Lithuanian as ''Skaitmeninė tvirtovė'' | |||
* Japanese as パズル・パレス | |||
* Uzbek as ''Raqamli Qal’a'' | |||
* Croatian as ''Digitalna tvrđava'' | |||
* Marathi as ''Digital Fortress'' | |||
==See also== | |||
* ] | * ] | ||
* ] | * ] | ||
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Latest revision as of 01:16, 18 November 2024
Novel by Dan Brown
First edition cover | |
Author | Dan Brown |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Mystery Techno-thriller |
Publisher | St. Martin's Press Transworld (United Kingdom) |
Publication date | 1998 |
Publication place | United States United Kingdom |
Media type | Print (hardback, paperback), audiobook |
ISBN | 0-312-18087-X (first edition hardcover) |
OCLC | 55045760 |
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 of using such technology.
Plot summary
The story is set in 1996. When the United States National Security Agency's (NSA) code-breaking supercomputer TRANSLTR encounters a revolutionary new code, Digital Fortress, that it cannot break, Commander Trevor Strathmore calls in head cryptographer Susan Fletcher to crack it. She is informed by Strathmore that it was written by Ensei Tankado, a former NSA employee who became displeased with the NSA's intrusion into people's private lives. If the NSA doesn't reveal TRANSLTR to the public, 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. Strathmore tells Fletcher that Tankado has in fact died in Seville at the age of 32, of what appears to be a heart attack. Strathmore intends to keep Tankado's death a secret because if Tankado's partner finds out, he will upload the code. The agency is determined to stop Digital Fortress from becoming a threat to national security.
Strathmore asks Fletcher's fiancé David Becker to travel to Seville and recover a ring that Tankado was wearing when he died. The ring is suspected to have the passcode that unlocks Digital Fortress. However, Becker soon discovers that Tankado gave the ring away just before his death. Unbeknown to Becker, a mysterious figure, named Hulohot, follows him, and murders each person he questions in the search for the ring. Unsurprisingly, Hulohot's final attempt would be on Becker himself.
Meanwhile, telephone calls between North Dakota and Tokugen Numataka 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 who is unaware of the Digital Fortress code breaking failure and believes Digital Fortress to be a virus, conducts his own investigation into whether Strathmore allowed Digital Fortress to bypass Gauntlet, the NSA's virus/worm filter. To save the TRANSLTR Phil decides to shut it down but is murdered after being pushed off 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. Chartrukian's fall also damages TRANSLTR's cooling system.
Hale holds Fletcher and Strathmore hostage to prevent himself from being arrested for Phil's murder. It is then that Hale explains to Fletcher, the e-mail he supposedly received from Tankado was also in Strathmore's inbox, as Strathmore was snooping on Tankado. Fletcher discovers through a tracer that North Dakota and Ensei Tankado are the same person, as "NDAKOTA" is an anagram of "Tankado."
Strathmore kills Hale and arranges it to appear as a suicide. Fletcher later discovers through Strathmore's pager that he is the one who hired Hulohot. Becker manages to track down the ring, but ends up pursued by Hulohot in a long cat-and-mouse chase across Seville. The two eventually face off in a cathedral, where Becker finally kills Hulohot by tripping him down a spiral staircase, causing him to break his neck. He is then intercepted by NSA field agents sent by Leland Fontaine, the director of the NSA.
Chapters told from Strathmore's perspective reveal his master plan. By hiring Hulohot to kill Tankado, having Becker recover his ring and at the same time arranging for Hulohot to kill Becker, he would facilitate a romantic relationship with Fletcher, regaining his lost honor. He has also been working incessantly for many months to unlock Digital Fortress, installing a backdoor inside the program. By making phone calls to Numataka posing as North Dakota, he thought he could partner with Numatech to make a Digital Fortress chip equipped with his own backdoor Trojan. Finally, he would reveal to the world the existence of TRANSLTR, boasting it would be able to crack all the codes except Digital Fortress, making everyone rush to use the computer chip equipped with Digital Fortress so that the NSA could spy on every computer equipped with these chips.
However, Strathmore was unaware that Digital Fortress is actually a computer worm that, once unlocked would "eat away" all the NSA databank's security and allow "any third-grader with a modem" to look at government secrets. When TRANSLTR overheats, Strathmore dies by standing next to the machine as it explodes. The worm eventually gets into the database, but Becker figures out the passcode just seconds before the last defenses fall (3, which is the difference between the Hiroshima nuclear bomb, Isotope 235, and the Nagasaki nuclear bomb, isotope 238, a reference to the nuclear bombs that killed Tankado's mother and left him crippled), and Fletcher is able to terminate the worm before hackers can get any significant data. The NSA allows Becker to return to the United States, reuniting him with Fletcher.
In the epilogue, it is revealed that Numataka was Ensei Tankado's father who left Tankado the day he was born due to Tankado's deformity. As Tankado's last living relative, Numataka inherits the rest of Tankado's possessions.
Characters
- Susan Fletcher – The NSA's Head Cryptographer, and the story's lead character
- David Becker – A Professor of Modern Languages and the fiancé of Susan Fletcher
- Ensei Tankado – The author of Digital Fortress and a disgruntled former NSA employee.
- Commander Trevor Strathmore – NSA Deputy Director of Operations, second commander in chief
- Phil Chartrukian – NSA Technician
- Greg Hale – NSA Cryptographer
- Leland Fontaine – Director of NSA
- Hulohot – an assassin hired by Strathmore to locate the Passkey
- Midge Milken – Fontaine's internal security analyst
- Chad Brinkerhoff – Fontaine's personal assistant
- "Jabba" – NSA's senior System Security Officer
- Soshi Kuta – Jabba's head technician and assistant
- Tokugen Numataka – Chairman of Japanese company Numatech attempting to purchase Digital Fortress. It is revealed in the Epilogue that Numataka is Tankado's father
Inaccuracies and criticism
The book was criticized by GCN for portraying facts about the NSA incorrectly and for misunderstanding the technology in the book, especially for the time when it was published.
In 2005, the town hall of the Spanish city of Seville invited Dan Brown to visit the city, in order to dispel the inaccuracies about Seville that Brown represented within the book.
Although uranium-235 was used in the bomb on Hiroshima, the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki used plutonium-239 (created from U-238). Uranium-238 is non-fissile.
Julius Caesar's cypher was not as simple as the one described in the novel, based on square numbers. In The Code Book by Simon Singh it is described as a transposition cypher which was undecipherable until centuries later.
The story behind the meaning of "sincere" is based on false etymology.
It is also untrue that in Spain (or in any other Catholic country) that the Holy Communion takes place at the beginning of Mass; Communion takes place very near the end.
In 2020, the book was featured on the podcast 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back, which critiques literature deemed low-quality.
Television adaptation
Imagine Entertainment announced in 2014 that it is set to produce a television series based on Digital Fortress, to be written by Josh Goldin and Rachel Abramowitz.
Translations
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (January 2015) |
Digital Fortress has been widely translated:
- Estonian as Digitaalne Kindlus
- Azerbaijani as Rəqəmsal Qala, ISBN 978-9952-26-426-5
- French as Forteresse Digitale, ISBN 978-2-253-12707-9
- Arabic as الحصن الرقمي, ISBN 9953299129, 2005, Arab Scientific Publishers
- Dutch as Het Juvenalis Dilemma, ISBN 9789024553020
- Korean as 디지털 포트리스
- German as Diabolus, ISBN 978-3785721940
- Bosnian as Digitalna tvrđava
- Portuguese as Fortaleza Digital, ISBN 972-25-1469-5
- Indonesian as Benteng Digital, ISBN 9791600910
- Turkish as Dijital Kale, ISBN 978-975-21-1165-3
- Danish as Tankados Kode
- Hebrew as שם הצופן: מבצר דיגיטלי
- Slovak as Digitálna pevnosť, ISBN 80-7145-9917
- Bulgarian as Цифрова крепост, ISBN 978-954-584-0173
- Hungarian as Digitális erőd, ISBN 978-963-689-3460
- Vietnamese as Pháo đài số, ISBN 978-604-50-2946-6
- Greek as ΨΗΦΙΑΚΟ ΟΧΥΡΟ, ISBN 960-14-1101-1
- Serbian as Дигитална тврђава
- Persian as قلعهی دیجیتالی
- Macedonian as Дигитална тврдина
- Russian as Цифровая крепость
- Spanish as La Fortaleza Digital, ISBN 8489367019
- Romanian as Fortăreața digitală
- Czech as Digitální pevnost
- Ukrainian as Цифрова фортеця
- Finnish as Murtamaton linnake
- Swedish as Gåtornas Palats, ISBN 9789100107161
- Norwegian as Den Digitale Festning
- Italian as Crypto, ISBN 978-880-45-7191-9
- Polish as Cyfrowa twierdza, ISBN 978-83-7885-752-5
- Albanian as Diabolus
- Traditional Chinese as 數位密碼
- Simplified Chinese as 数字城堡
- Slovene as Digitalna trdnjava
- Lithuanian as Skaitmeninė tvirtovė
- Japanese as パズル・パレス
- Uzbek as Raqamli Qal’a
- Croatian as Digitalna tvrđava
- Marathi as Digital Fortress
See also
References
- Breen II, John (August 2, 2011). "Why can't novels get technology right?". GCN. United States: Public Sector Media Group. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- Nash, Elizabeth (August 27, 2005). "Dan Brown: Seville smells and is corrupt. City: You come here and say that". The Independent. United Kingdom. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- "Sincere | Search Online Etymology Dictionary".
- Andreeva, Nellie (September 11, 2014). "ABC Nabs Adaptation Of Dan Brown's 'Digital Fortress' From Imagine & 20th TV". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 12, 2014. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
External links
- Official website
- Official UK website
- (in Spanish) Criticism in the Spanish-language Epoca of the book's description of locations in Seville
Dan Brown | |||||
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Novels |
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Adaptations |
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Related |
- 1998 American novels
- 1998 debut novels
- Novels by Dan Brown
- American mystery novels
- American thriller novels
- Novels about cryptography
- Techno-thriller novels
- Novels about computing
- St. Martin's Press books
- Speculative crime and thriller fiction
- Novels about mass surveillance
- Novels set in Maryland
- Novels set in Seville
- Fiction about malware
- Works about the National Security Agency