Cryptocurrency or Crypto for short which is the renowned name has given a new perspective to the world. Its impact and evolution are similar to the initial currency the world ever recognized and utilized, which is Barter. Today’s fiat accepted and utilized in all countries originated from barter. Likewise, Crypto’s mechanism and blockchain technology was birthed from “Cryptography”. Cryptography is the study of secure communications techniques that allow only the sender and intended recipient of a message to view its contents. The term is derived from the Greek word kryptos, which means hidden. It is closely associated with encryption, which is the act of scrambling ordinary text into what’s known as ciphertext and then back again upon arrival. In addition, cryptography also covers the obfuscation of information in images using techniques such as microdots or merging. Ancient Egyptians were known to use these methods in complex hieroglyphics, and Roman Emperor Julius Caesar is credited with using one of the first modern ciphers. With this knowledge in mind, one begins to ponder questions such as how old or ancient is cryptography today?
The Ancient Roots of Cryptography
Cryptography is dated back to the primitive cryptographic techniques era which existed in ancient times, and most early civilizations appear to have used cryptography to some degree. The usage of these cryptographic services was dominant in both ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian writings. The earliest known example of this type of cryptography was found in the tomb of an Egyptian noble named Khnumhotep II, who lived approximately 3,900 years ago. The purpose of symbol replacement in the Knhumhotep inscription was not to conceal information but to enhance its linguistic appeal. The earliest known example of cryptography being used to protect sensitive information occurred around 3,500 years ago when a Mesopotamian scribe employed cryptography to conceal a formula for pottery glaze, which was used on clay tablets.
Cryptography Modalities
When transmitting electronic data, the most common use of cryptography is to encrypt and decrypt email and other plain-text messages. The simplest method uses the symmetric or “secret key” system.
There are three (3) types of cryptography, which will be briefly explained below:
- Symmetric Key Cryptography: It is an encryption system where the sender and receiver of a message use a single common key to encrypt and decrypt messages. Symmetric Key Systems are faster and simpler but the problem is that the sender and receiver have to somehow exchange keys in a secure manner. The most popular symmetric key cryptography system is Data Encryption System (DES).
- Hash Functions: These are methods used to handle the transformation of any given key or a string of characters into another value. Many operating systems use hash functions to encrypt passwords.
- Asymmetric Key Cryptography: In this cryptography, a public key is used for encryption, and a private key is used for decryption. The Public key and Private Key are different. Even if the public key is known by everyone the intended receiver can only decode it with the private key.
Read more from: the poise media