I read that too, and I don't want to doubt Stephenson's word, but it's very hard to believe that he hadn't run across Cyphernomicon or the Cypherpunks (hell, th

I read that too, and I don't want to doubt Stephenson's word, but it's very hard to believe that he hadn't run across Cyphernomicon or the Cypherpunks (hell, they were on the cover of Wired Issue #1.02) in researching crypto for Cryptonomicon. Maybe he forgot he did but the term stuck in his subconscious. Or maybe he really didn't do even basic research before coming up with the name? PS. Yes, I am the commenter previously known as anarky. No idea why that account got banned after a single comment.