--Originally published at Tech and no-tech
I have talked about a lot of ways of protecting systems and information. Protect through security policies, authentication, unique passwords, the CIA, etc. But there is still more. There is a way of transmitting data so that only those for whom the data is intended can read it. This method or tool for protecting information in information security and computer systems is called cryptography.
Cryptography, nowadays, is more related with scrambling plain text so that is does not make sense, because it needs to be put in order again. Though, cryptography includes many other ways to hide information, like microdots or combining text with images.
There are two main steps:
- Encryption: Turning plain text into cipher text, by any method.
- Decryption: Turning cipher text into plain text.
Cryptographers, who are in charged of practicing cryptography, along with modern cryptography have four main objectives:
- Confidentiality: The information cannot be understood by anyone.
- Integrity: The information cannot be altered in storage or transit without the alteration being altered.
- Non-repudiation: The sender cannot deny at a later stage his or her intentions in the creation or transmission of the information.
- Authentication: The sender and the receiver can confirm each other’s identity and the origin/destination of the information.
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Coursera: Cryptography I – Stanford University
References:
Definition: Cryptography – SearchSoftwareQuality
