It took a long time for the RSA algorithm to grow from theory to practice – almost 20 years from the time it was invented until it was widely deployed.

In this StoryCorps @ RSAC podcast, Jim Bidzos, the founder, CEO and Chairman of Verisign, and former RSA CEO, strolls down memory lane with Burt Kaliski, SVP and CTO of Verisign, and the Founding Scientist of RSA Laboratories.

The two discuss the creation of RSA the company and of the RSA Conference, which evolved from a small gathering to a global event that people from the highest levels of industry and government would attend.

Along the way, people would contact them telling them they’d found a way to break the RSA algorithm, and would share it for a price. So they created the RSA Factoring Challenge.

You can listen to their conversation on the impact of RSA on the connected digital world here.