A deep dive into the history of cryptography
basvanderheijden
We implement or use some form of cryptography nearly every day: from public-key authentication or cryptocurrency transactions to credit-card processing or visiting a website over SSL. Security is omnipresent today, and has been for a long time. Tracing the colorful history of cryptography, I will present the evolution of secret writing from the ancient greeks and the Middle Ages to the present and beyond.
In this highly practical session, I explain encryption techniques (such as the "indecipherable cipher") through JavaScript code. You will gain hands-on experience with encrypting and decrypting messages. Through these examples, you will come to understand how the ongoing battle between code makers and breakers is a catalyst for fast-paced innovation, new strategies and paradigms for secret communication.
Topics will include:
- Security through obscurity,
- Plaintext vs. ciphertexts and substition ciphers,
- Frequency analysis,
- The enigma code during World War II,
- Public-key cryptography & RSA