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 Cryptography:

Cryptography is the study of secure communication techniques that ensure that only the sender and intended recipient of a message can view its contents. The term comes from the Greek kryptos, meaning hidden (Cryptography definition,2022). The origin of cryptography is usually dated to around 2000 BC. It dates back to the Egyptian practice of hieroglyphs. They consisted of complex pictograms whose full meaning was known only to a few elites (Richards,2021)

Cryptography is closely related to the fields of cryptology and cryptanalysis. This includes techniques such as microdots, word and image fusion, and other methods of hiding information during storage or transmission. These days, cryptography has become a battlefield for the world's top mathematicians and computer scientists. The ability to securely store and transmit sensitive information has proven to be a critical success factor in warfare and business. People working in this field are called cryptographers.(Richards,2021)

Cryptography (2022)


Modern cryptography addresses these four goals:

  1. Confidentiality: This information is incomprehensible to those for whom it is not intended. (Richards,2021)
  2. Integrity: Information cannot be changed during storage or transmission between the sender and the intended recipient without the change being recognized.(Richards,2021)
  3. Non repudiation: The creator/sender of the information cannot later deny his intentions when creating or sending the information.(Richards,2021)
  4. Authentication: Senders and receivers can verify each other's identities and the origin/destination of information. (Richards,2021)

Types of Cryptography:

There are different types of cryptography which is broken down in three groups:
  • Secret key cryptography: Secret-key cryptography (symmetric cryptography) uses a single key to encrypt data. Symmetric encryption is the simplest form of encryption because the same key is used for both encryption and decryption. Private-key encryption can be used for both data in transit and data at rest, but is typically only used for data at rest because sending secrets to message recipients can lead to compromise . Eg: AES, DES (Goel, 2020).

  • Public key cryptography: Public-key cryptography, also known as asymmetric cryptography, uses two keys to encrypt data. One is used for encryption and the other key can decrypt the message. Unlike symmetric encryption, when one key is used for encryption, the same key cannot be used to decrypt the message, the other must be used. Eg: ECC, DSS (Goel, 2020).
  • Hash function: A hash function is an irreversible, one-way function that protects data at the cost of not being able to recover the original message. Hashing is a way of converting a given string into a fixed-length string. A good hashing algorithm produces a unique output for any given input. The only way to crack a hash is to try all possible inputs until you get exactly the same hash. Hashes can be used for hashes of data (such as passwords) and certificates. Eg: MD5, Whirlpool (Goel, 2020). 
 
References:

Cryptography definition (2022) www.kaspersky.com. Available at: https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/what-is-cryptography (Accessed: 18 April 2023).

Richards, K. (2021) What is cryptography? Definition from search, Security. TechTarget. Available at: https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/cryptography (Accessed: 18 April 2023).

Goel, S. (2020) What is Cryptography in security? What are the different types of Cryptography?, Encryption Consulting. Available at: https://www.encryptionconsulting.com/education-center/what-is-cryptography/ (Accessed: 18 April 2023).


Cryptography (2022) ENISA. Available at: https://www.enisa.europa.eu/topics/cryptography (Accessed: 18 April 2023).


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