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Encryption
Technology aside, encryption is really nothing more than the use of a secret code to hide information from the people to whom you wish to keep it secret. In this case, though, it is an example of hiding something “in plain sight.” The bad guys can see it. They can hold it in their hands. They just can’t read it. I offer that additional explanation to contrast cryptography with steganography, which is hiding a message within something else, such as an image file. With steganography, if the bad guy gets a hold of the image—and realizes that something is hidden within—then extracting it is a trivial exercise.
One of the first documented proponents of encryption was Julius Caesar. According to legend, he employed what has come to be known as the “Caesar shift.” When he needed to send a secret message to one of his field generals, he would shift the letters in the message three places to the right. So “fight now” became “cfdeq klt.” Though simplistic by today’s standards, the Caesar shift worked, ostensibly because there were no web-based articles on “Breaking Caesar’s Code,” and also because many people of the time were illiterate.
One of the first documented proponents of encryption was Julius Caesar. According to legend, he employed what has come to be known as the “Caesar shift.” When he needed to send a secret message to one of his field generals, he would shift the letters in the message three places to the right. So “fight now” became “cfdeq klt.” Though simplistic by today’s standards, the Caesar shift worked, ostensibly because there were no web-based articles on “Breaking Caesar’s Code,” and also because many people of the time were illiterate.
Next: Whitelisting vs. blacklisting.
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