[mock-possum]

I can’t figure it out either.

Does “the sad tale of hype fanning” fear that “modern cryptography was slain?”

Or is there a “sad tale of hype” that is currently “fanning fears” that “modern cryptography” has been slain?

Or is it “the sad tale of hype” itself that was slain?

It’s such a textbook example of a poorly-constructed sentence, it’s hard to believe it was written unintentionally.

[wjnc]

I reconstruct it as: [Did you know of] the sad tale [where] hype [was] fanning fears [that] modern cryptography was slain [but it wasn’t]