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Two cryptographers working for the U.S. National Security Agency left on vacation to Mexico, and proceeded to defect to the Soviet Union.

Historical image related to Two cryptographers working for the U.S. National Security Agency left on vacation to Mexico, and proceeded to defect to the Soviet Union. from June 25, 1960

Cryptography

Practice and study of secure communication techniques

Cryptography, or cryptology, is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adversarial behavior. More generally, cryptography is about constructing and analyzing protocols that prevent third parties or the public from reading private…
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National Security Agency

U.S. signals intelligence organization

The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and processing of information and data for…
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)

Martin and Mitchell defection

1960 defection of two U.S. National Security Agency cryptologists to the Soviet Union

In September 1960, two U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) cryptologists, William Hamilton Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell, defected to the Soviet Union. A secret 1963 NSA study said that: "Beyond any doubt, no other event has had, or is likely to have in the future, a greater…
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)