I'd suggest that the author is off by at least 40 years. Check out Riverbank Labs in Geneva, IL. With the onset of World War I, Colonel Fabyan offered the services of his Department of Codes and Ciphers to the Federal Government. Due to the fact that the government had no existing department for this kind of work, they accepted. Riverbank began receiving encoded messages to work on breaking which had been intercepted by the government from unfriendly sources. For many, even today, codes and ciphers are an unknown entity. When the Friedmans began to research sources on codes and ciphers to assist them on the Baconian theory, they realized there was very little written about it. Thus, their work was groundbreaking in developing literature in the field.

What this case suggests to me is how easy it has become for the FBI to invade ones privacy whether for cause or not. For instance: if one clicks a link to a site which might support Al Qaeda what are the odds of a visit from the FBI? And we now have evidence of FBI seeking information letters and warrants with little to no direct evidence of wrong doing. Or better yet, you go online to find an escort and get a visit from the FBI. What if I want to download a movie not approved by the FBI? I'm not sure anyone is safe from surveillance from the alphabet spies; we no longer have a free society.