I actually just recently spoke with Hellman for an interview. He's focusing on educating people about the risk of maintaining nuclear deterrents. Also has a new book out that might not be what you expect:
Until then you had to exchange keys ahead of time with known parties. With public/private keys, you became able to do so in real time with arbitrary third parties. I'd gather they knew full well it wouldn't hyperbole.
http://amturing.acm.org/
I actually just recently spoke with Hellman for an interview. He's focusing on educating people about the risk of maintaining nuclear deterrents. Also has a new book out that might not be what you expect:
https://anewmap.com/