If by "leaking hints" you mean "screaming at the top of their lungs in public protocol design discussions not to do it this way until they got sick of being nib

If by "leaking hints" you mean "screaming at the top of their lungs in public protocol design discussions not to do it this way until they got sick of being nibbled to death by committees of ducks and gave up" you might be interested in looking into the papers of one Ex-NSA P. Rogaway.