Introduction to Cryptography

What is Cryptography?

Cryptography refers to the process of obscuring text so that only intended people can understand messages. In cryptographic terms, plaintext (ordinary language) is converted to ciphertext (encoded language). There are a variety of different encryption algorithms, also known as ciphers. Each is useful for different scenarios.

Why is Cryptography Important?

Cryptography protects data. Cryptography obscures text so that not just anyone can see it. This is especially useful for data in transit that can be intercepted by attackers. Encryption is almost always used by messaging apps, such as Whatsapp. Data in storage is also protected by cryptography, except it is hashed instead of encrypted; we will go over what this means in the course!

In this course, we will talk about encryption, hashing, and the different types of these. You will also be able to look at examples and how these algorithms work!