ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some basic ideas behind cryptography. This is intended for an audience who will be evaluators, recommenders, and end users of cryptographic algorithms and products rather than implementers. The art and science of breaking encryptions is known as cryptanalysis, which is practiced by cryptanalysts. During the 1970s and 1980s, the National Security Agency also attempted to regulate crypto-graphic publications but was unsuccessful. However, general interest in cryptography increased as a result. Academic and business interest in cryptography was high, and extensive research led to significant new algorithms and techniques. Algorithms or ciphers that use the same key to encrypt and decrypt are called symmetric cryptographic algorithms. Asymmetric is the term applied in a cryptographic system where one key is used to encrypt and another is used to decrypt. Cryptography is often a business enabler. Financial institutions encrypt the connection between the user’s browser and Web pages that show confidential information such as account balances.
