A Brief History of Modern Cryptography

I originally posted this at http://www.318.com/TechJournal Cryptology is derived from the Greek words kryptos, which stands for “hidden” and grafein, which stands for to “write”. Through history, cryptography has meant the process of concealing the contents of a message from all except those who know the key. Cryptography is used to protect e-mail messages, credit card information, and corporate data. Cryptography has been used for centuries to hide messages when they are submitted through means where they might be intercepted, such as the Internet. But encrypting email messages as they traverse the Internet is not the only reason to understand or use various cryptographic methods. Every time you check your…