This document discusses the history of encryption and cryptography. It covers early techniques like steganography and transposition ciphers where plaintext is rearranged. The Caesar and Vigenere ciphers are also explained, where letters are shifted or substituted according to a key. Modern encryption methods are then outlined, including public key infrastructure (PKI) which allows two parties to authenticate each other using digital signatures and public/private key pairs. The document traces encryption techniques over centuries and how they evolved with technological advances to the widespread use of encryption today to secure internet communications and banking.