Tankado is found dead in Seville, ostensibly of a heart attack. In response, the NSA resolves to stop Digital Fortress through other means. If he dies, he has a provision in place that allows his partner, who goes by “North Dakota,” to release the code for free. Tankado presents an ultimatum to the NSA wherein he will reveal his cryptographic code, “Digital Fortress,” to the world via an auction to the highest bidder unless the NSA informs the American public about the nature of TRANSLTR. Tankado had become disillusioned with the purpose of the NSA after finding that it routinely pries into the private data of citizens without just cause. After precursory research, Fletcher discovers a former NSA operative Ensei Tankado created the code. Commander Trevor Strathmore reaches out to the NSA’s head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, asking her to try to break it. The novel begins as members of the United States’ National Security Agency encounter a piece of code that TRANSLTR is unable to break.
The novel explores themes of government surveillance, the flow and security of individuals’ private data, and the unintended effects of technological change. Digital Fortress (1998), a techno-thriller novel by American author Dan Brown, concerns the events that take place after an advance in cryptography foils the secret government supercomputer, TRANSLTR, which has been used to violate Americans’ privacy rights.
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