Cryptography is the study of making communications secure between two specific parties whilst preventing a third party from being able to intercept and read it.
Cryptography is mostly about using different ciphers (codes) to communicate messages. The transferring of a message into code is called encryption, with the retrieval of the message at the other end being called decryption, which requires a key/knowledge of the code used.
Classic Cryptography
The earliest known use of ciphers comes from Egypt (circa 1900 BCE) although the reason for its usage at this time is unknown.
The types of ciphers, used between then and the advent of computers, generally fell within three categories: Transposition, Substitution and Steganography.
Once computers were developed, these ciphers were no longer suitable to use, due to the ease in which they can be cracked with this technology
This meant new forms of encryption were required to keep messages private and secure, ciphers that could not be cracked by other computers that did not have the key. This new wave of ciphers fall under Modern Cryptography
Modern Cryptography
Since the advent of computing, cryptography has expanded into a much larger field, especially with current privacy and data protection expectations.
This is an ever-evolving field of research and development due to the increasing power and ability of computer technology.
Keeping data and information safe and secure is becoming tougher, especially with our research in quantum computing. This advancement will negate all currently existing computer encryptions and require a whole new level of cryptography.
We hope to offer some workshops in the near future that will help you understand how your computer and other modern devices keep your data secure.