Cryptography is the art and science of securing communication and data by converting plain text into unintelligible ciphertext. It's an essential aspect of cybersecurity and privacy, used in various fields such as finance, government, military, and everyday online communication.
At its core, cryptography relies on algorithms and mathematical principles to encrypt and decrypt data securely. There are two main types of cryptographic techniques: symmetric and asymmetric encryption.
1. **Symmetric Encryption**: In symmetric encryption, the same key is used for both encryption and decryption. It's faster and more efficient for large volumes of data. Algorithms like AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) are commonly used for symmetric encryption.
2. **Asymmetric Encryption**: Also known as public-key cryptography, asymmetric encryption uses a pair of keys - public and private. The public key is used for encryption, while the private key is used for decryption. RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) are popular asymmetric encryption algorithms.
Cryptography serves several crucial purposes:
- **Confidentiality**: It ensures that only authorized parties can access the information.
- **Integrity**: It verifies that the information has not been altered or tampered with during transmission.
- **Authentication**: It confirms the identity of the communicating parties.
- **Non-repudiation**: It prevents the sender from denying the authenticity of the message.
Cryptography also faces challenges, such as the rise of quantum computing which poses a threat to traditional cryptographic methods, prompting the development of quantum-resistant algorithms.
Overall, cryptography plays a vital role in protecting sensitive information in today's digital world, enabling secure communication and transactions over the internet.
4. Cryptography is essential for cybersecurity, ensuring the
confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of digital
data. It protects data from unauthorized access, verifies
identities in digital transactions, and ensures the
integrity of information through techniques like
encryption, digital signatures, and authentication
protocols.
Importance
5. Types of Cryptography:
•Symmetric Cryptography:
• Symmetric cryptography uses a single shared key for both
encryption and decryption.
• The sender encrypts the plaintext using the shared key to
produce ciphertext, and the recipient decrypts the ciphertext
using the same key to recover the plaintext.
•Asymmetric Cryptography:
• Asymmetric cryptography uses a pair of keys (public and
private) for encryption and decryption.
• The sender encrypts the plaintext using the recipient's public
key, and the recipient decrypts the ciphertext using their
private key.
6.
7. •Secret cryptographic key
known only to its owner.
•Used for decryption and
digital signing.
•Must be kept confidential
and secure.
•Paired with private key in
asymmetric cryptography.
•Freely distributed to
others.
•Used for encryption and
verifying digital
signatures.
8. Hash Functions
Hash functions take an input (like a message or
data) and convert it into a fixed-size string of
characters.
Hash functions have two main properties: they
always produce the same output for the same
input (deterministic), and it's very hard to
generate the same output with different inputs
(collision resistance).
10. AES (Advanced Encryption Standard):
The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
is a symmetric key encryption algorithm
that uses the same key for encryption
and decryption.
AES is known for its strong security and
efficiency. It supports key sizes of 128,
192, or 256 bits
14. SHA (Secure Hash Algorithm):
SHA encryptions are used for a variety of methods including to hash
data, certificate files, and other cryptographic purposes including in
cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
15. Cryptographic Protocols
SSL/TLS (Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer
Security):
• SSL/TLS protocols secure internet communication
by encrypting data, authenticating parties, and
ensuring data integrity.
• Web browsing, email, file transfer, remote access.
