>Some people have suggested that the 1969 movie Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice was the origin of Alice and Bob. While it is possible—even likely—that Rivest, Shamir, and Adleman might have been familiar with the movie, there is no evidence to indicate that the movie influenced their naming decision. More likely, since Alice and Bob are common English names that start with A and B, the names were chosen without much forethought.

If their speculation, that the names are arbitrary, is true, why make so much out of it?

Compare with Smith and Jones, popular in philosophy.

Would also have been nice for the website to have supported https.