What is Cryptography?

Technology has developed throughout the years, which has been shown by changes in different aspects of how people await their daily lives. One causa could be the government agency of transportation which started from horses during early times to carriages, invention of automobiles, aircrafts, submarines and some more which we use at pre direct. Through centuries, sending of messages has also evolved from messenger get by to electronic mail via the conception Wide Web. Along with these atomic number 18 rising earnest threats to senders and receivers of those messages who fear that their mail would be exposed by someone else.It is and has been the same problem ever since. How burn these security threats and privacy invasions be avoided wherefore? The main topic of this research is the importance of a science that helps everyone. It could be in terms of engineering to the benefit of computer enthusiasts and industrialists, or simply for protective cover of the privacy of eac h citizen. The following pages would give the readers a brief introduction of the subject at hand, Cryptography. Along with its definition, history, forms and uses, readers would also be able to learn how classic this science is and why each person should use it in their daily chat.According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, Cryptography is the en energying and de aiming of messages in recondite code or cipher, the computerized encoding and decoding of development. It is also cutn as secret writing. Derived from the Greek spoken language kryptos, which means hidden and the grafo, meaning write, is the transformation of data into a secure message, so that unintended recepients would non be able to understand or use them. (Wikibooks, Inc. , 2007).Cryptography is use to hide instruction by means of encryption, therefore do data unreadable to those who dont have the secret call that can decipher or decrypt the message into an understandable one. Encryption is done when information is transformed into something which others major power see as useless. This is called ciphertext. The act of transforming the give tongue to information into an understandable format with the use of a cipher or secret chance upon is called decryption. (Wikibooks, 2007) The use of coding is seen today through its many uses.These include the security of ATM cards, electronic commerce and computer rallying crys. These argon utilize for access control and confidentiality of secure information. (Cryptography, 2007) such(prenominal) techniques like microdots and combining words with images are used by cryptographers to hide information from unintended recepients. (Pawliw, 2006) The early known use of cryptography is Classical Cryptography. It shows that it has been thousands of years since cryptography was outgrowth done. History has stated that the first proof of the use of cryptography dates back to 2000 BC.It has been relate with the Egyptians lend oneself of hie roglyphics which consisted of complicated pictograms seen carved into monuments of Ancient Egypt. These pictograms were tough to interpret and unaccompanied a chosen few knew what their real meanings were. Some time within five hundred and 600 BC, Hebrew scholars made use of simple substitution ciphers like the Atbash Cipher in order to work on these encrypted messages. According to Wikibooks, the first known use of a modern cipher was by Julius Caesar (100 BC to 44 BC)who did not trust his messengers when communicating with his governors and falseicers. For this reason, he created a system in which each character in his messages was replaced by a character three positions ahead of it in the Roman alphabet. (Wikibooks, 2007) By the time of World War II, there has become a great use of mechanical and electromechanical cryptographic cipher machines, but the usage of these was very impractical. During this time, there were various developments in both(prenominal) mathematical an d practical cryptography.When the menses of modern cryptography began, Claude Shannon, father of mathematical cryptography, published the paper Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems in the Bell System Technical Journal in 1949. Shortly after that, along with Warren Weaver, he published the book Mathematical Theory of Communication as well. Because of those worldly concernations, a solid theoretical infrastructure for cryptography and for cryptanalysis was established, which made cryptography known entirely by secret government communications organizations such as the NSA.It was only in 1969 that the humans again saw developments in the field of cryptography First was the DES (Data Encryption Standard) submitted by IBM in an effort to develop secure electronic communication facilities for businesses such as banks and other large financial organizations it was adopted and published as a FIPS yield (Federal Information Processing Standard) in 1977has been made effectively obsol ete by the adoption in 2001 of the travel Encryption StandardDES was the first publicly accessible cypher algorithm to be blessed by a national crypto agency such as NSA.The release of its design details by NBS impact an explosion of public and academic interest in cryptography. (Wikibooks, 2006) Here are the important terms related to Cryptography in detail Encryption is the act of hiding information using cryptography. Processed information in this manner is said to be encrypted. Decryption is the process of translating encrypted information. The Key is like a password used to encrypt and decrypt information. A transmission channel used to transmit information in secrecy is called a Secure Line, while a Public Line is the oppo land site.An example of which are public pay phones and the Internet. (Wooledge , 2000) There are several examples of Cryptography being used today. In order to come along explain the types of Cryptography, Wooledge compared the Key to a key to a door. First among these is the Symmetric Cipher, which can sometimes be called a symmetric key. Most of the time, it is used for simple types of cryptography because a same key is used to encrypt and decrypt the secret message.Everybody who should have access to the room is given a copy of the keyput new information in, take old information outif you send somebody a copy of the key by way of the Post side, somebody working at the Post Office could intercept this keyallow them to access this same locked room, and do the same things with itletting them read everything you locked up with that key, even letting them modify it. (Wooledge , 2000) The Public Key Cryptography is more complex because in this type of cryptography there are two keys used and together, they are called a key pair.The key used to encrypt is called the public key, which can be given to anyone in order to send information to the owner of the confidential key, which will be used to decrypt information sent to him. The most common example of this is the use of electronic mail over the internet, also known as email. The public key is an email address which one gives out to his friends. This allows them to send information to the holder of the secret key, the owner of the email address, the only one who has the password to open and translate the information sent to him or her.(Wooledge , 2000) A One condemnation Pad is used to send high security messages such as national secrets and is considered the only complete(a) encryption in the world. In this type of encryption, both the sender and receiver has a copy of the cast to be used as a symmetric key to hide and unhide a message sent over a secure line and destroys them after it has been used. A good example of this is the one seen in Mission Impossible movies, wherein Ethan Hunt receives messages that self-destruct. (Wooledge , 2000)For the sake of totality, it would be best to include Steganography, the science of hiding information from people who would spy on a person. This type of encryption is designed not to let spies know that there is indeed a something hidden in a certain message. It is very effective, but only used occasionally. (Wooledge , 2000) Along with the internet, there is a large growth in the variety of forms of electronic communications, making its security very important. There are a number of enumerated uses for Cryptography such as protection of e-mail messages, credit card information, corporate and other important information.(Jupiter Media Corporation, 2004) After a brief background on Cryptography, readers would come to know why it is important to use them in their daily activities. The following are common concerns, goals or objectives that answer the above stated question. Message Confidentiality Encrypted messages would only be understood by intended recepients of a certain message. If a sender would want to hide certain information from the public or from someone in particular, it would be b est that cryptography is used.In that manner, only the receiver would have the key to translate the message into a useful and understandable one. Message Integrity If an encrypted message is intercepted and changed during the sending process, it would considerably be known by the receiver, which secures its integrity. Sender Authentication It would be possible to make sure of the identities of both sender and recepient of the message. With cryptography, the recipient would be able to verify the true identity of the sender, along with the origin and end point of the message.Sender Non-Repudiation This would prevent a sender from denying an intention to send and that he or she is the true sender of the said message. (Wikibooks, 2007) Though these cryptographic procedures are effective enough to achieve the goals, and concerns mentioned, it is still important for receivers and specially senders to practice caution such as creating a password with a very strong integrity, logging off private systems when they are not being used by the owner and keeping all private information to oneself. (Pawliw, 2006) Works Cited Cryptography. (2006).In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary Web. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Retrieved January 24, 2007, from http//www. m-w. com/cgi-bin/dictionary? book=Dictionary&va=cryptography Cryptography. (2007). In Wikipedia, the Free encyclopedia Web. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. Retrieved January 24, 2007, from http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Cryptography Pawliw, B (2006, January 13). Cryptography. Retrieved January 24, 2007, from Search Security. com Web site http//searchsecurity. techtarget. com/sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci214431,00. html Wikibooks, (2006, November 1).Cryptography/History of Cryptography. Retrieved January 24, 2007, from Wikibooks, the Open-Content Textbooks collection Web site http//en. wikibooks. org/wiki/Cryptography/History_of_Cryptography Wikibooks, (2007, January 10). Cryptography/Introduction. Retrieved January 24, 2007, from Wikibooks, the Open-Content Textbooks Collection Web site http//en. wikibooks. org/wiki/Cryptography/Introduction Wooledge , G (2000, October 11). What types of cryptography are there?. Retrieved January 24, 2007, from wooledge. org Web site http//wooledge. org/greg/crypto/node5. html