What is Cryptography in Crypto and Blockchain Security ?
Cryptography is the science of how data or information is converted to a secret format to be transmitted securely between two parties. The process of converting the data into this format is called encryption. It ensures that the recipient, who has the keys to accessing the information, is the only one that can decrypt the data.
What Is Encryption?
Encryption means the process of encoding data for security. It has proven vital for data agencies, governments, and even entire currencies as applied in cryptocurrencies. Accordingly, the goal is to ensure only the intended recipient(s) access that information. If an encryption code is easily breakable, it has little value to the transacting parties.
In a digital ecosystem, humans cannot be at hand to enforce every transaction. Cryptography algorithms ensure that a set of rules guides problem-solving operations by a computer. For cryptographic systems, a cryptography algorithm sets down these rules. Therefore, transactions have a standardized secure format.
How Do You Create A Cryptography Algorithm?
The first step is to design the algorithm. Once you design the algorithm, you test it and check its efficiency from the encryption and decryption side.
What Are The Three Main Types Of Cryptographic Algorithms?
Secret Key/symmetric Cryptography
For secret key cryptography, the encrypting party and the decrypting party use only one key to secure the data. A common term for secret key cryptography is symmetric cryptography. One key can both encrypt and decrypt the information hence the reference to symmetry.
Public Key/asymmetric Cryptography
Asymmetric cryptography adds an extra pair of keys for encryption. There is the public key available to everyone and private keys are under the exclusive control of their holder. The algorithm is unique to ensure that third parties cannot derive the private key from the public key.
Hash Functions
Hash functions differ from the former two in that they don’t necessarily involve the use of keys. Encryption is possible through the creation of a small hash value from larger amounts of data through a singular process. It is fundamental to modern cryptography. Bitcoin’s SHA-56 is an implementation of the Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA).
Bitcoin relies on two of these cryptographic algorithms for functioning. The asymmetric cryptography ensures that transacting parties can securely transfer control of digital assets while keeping the tenets of blockchain transparency through the existence of public keys.
Encryption is a continually evolving topic. Developers are always thinking of more efficient encryption techniques. The latest encryption techniques like Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) may prove redundant in a few years.
How Is Cryptography Used In Real Life?
Well, encryption is all around you. It is not a preserve of cryptocurrencies or big data. Systems ranging from ATMs email and file storage, website security, and much more rely on encryption.
Cryptography may seem distant to the ordinary person. However, on appreciating its vitality in the digital world, it gets an elevated sense of importance.
