FUNDAMENTALS OF MODERN CRYPTOGRAPHY: FROM ENCRYPTION TO DIGITAL SIGNATURES

Abstract

The issue of changing and protecting information so that it cannot be read by other outsiders has been thinking about humanity since ancient times. The history of cryptography is developing in parallel with the history of human language. Even the writing itself was originally a cryptographic system because, in ancient times, only a select few knew how to write. When writing became widespread, cryptography developed as a separate science. Cryptographic systems developed well during the years of the First and Second World Wars. Since the post-war time, the emergence of computing equipment up to this point accelerated the creation and improvement of cryptographic methods. In the modern world, cryptography has entered into everything, from mobile phones to email programs, bank cards, smart homes and even into medical implants. This is quite different from the past, where cryptography had been traditionally confined to very specific applications, especially government communications and banking systems. As a consequence of the pervasiveness of crypto algorithms, people should understand how they work and how they can be applied in practice. This article addresses this issue by providing a comprehensive introduction to modern applied cryptography and provides the reader with a deep understanding of how modern cryptographic schemes work.