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Cryptography Overview

Cryptography can provide greater levels of security in Internet commerce, a requirement for the growing number of Internet transactions that take place every day.

The Internet without cryptography is like a postal system where postcards are sent without signatures. All the sent information can pass through many hands, each of which can read, delete or modify the content. In addition, the sender can deny sending the message and the receiver has no guarantee of who actually sent the postcard. This kind of postal system is not suitable for transactions on a similar model. However, by adding appropriate cryptography to a network the process becomes analogous to adding envelopes and signatures to the postal system.

Cryptography provides computer networks with the ability to transact business at a level of security equivalent to that used in conventional face-to-face transactions but at the speed of e-commerce. There are different types of cryptography that can be applied that are appropriate for different situations. For example, a post-publication company annual report can be digitally signed to provide authentication, integrity and non-repudiation, while a pre-publication version, which is financially sensitive, can be encrypted to provide confidentiality. There are two basic types of cryptography: Secret-key and Public-key

Where Cryptography Fits?
Cryptography is available to users through cryptographic applications such as Web browsers, Web servers, financial applications, etc. These applications are supported by cryptographic protocols and services such as SSL and digital signature. These services are, in turn, supported by fundamental mechanisms including RSA or DES encryption.

There is a relatively small set (perhaps 20) of commercially significant mechanisms, which are required to enable complex services and applications.

Typically, for very high security or very high-speed applications, the basic mechanisms - and sometimes some of the services - are executed on special purpose security hardware.

There is a current trend towards putting higher-level protocols and services onto security hardware, referred to as security appliances, such as SSL appliances.

Read more about the types of cryptography and security of modern cryptography.