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Cryptography

Ever since communication became a key instrument for exchanging ideas there was always a need to keep information safe from prying eyes and ears. Cryptography was thus invented so as to fulfill this need. Let’s explore this art further which dates back to 1900 BC and without which nothing in this world would had been secured!

Introduction

What is Cryptography?

The word “Cryptography” gets it roots from two greek words “cryptos” and “graphein” which when put together simply imply translating messages into a “secret language”. In formal terms, Cryptography is the art of converting information into an unintelligible form so that no unauthorized person can understand it.

Importance of Cryptography

Suppose you are selling your old smartphone to someone. You would surely use the “restore to factory settings” mode to erase all your personal data. But, the fact is your data can still be restored. So how do you prevent someone from accessing your personal data? One way of solving this is to change all your data to a different form (known as encryption which we’ll see later) such that no unauthorized person can get your original data back. Cryptography is used to ensure safe storage of critical data. It is also used to secure messages over messaging apps (like Whatsapp) , phone calls and emails. Without it, people would have had a hard time protecting their data.