Overview

Cryptography uses mathematical algorithms to encode and decode data.

Cryptography uses algorithms to decode and encode data. Cryptographic algorithms are designed to be difficult or nearly impossible to break. Information secured with cryptography is incredibly hard for unauthorized parties to access.

The sender and receiver of the information must have the right cryptographic key in order to encode and decode the data.

Two main types of Cryptography:

Symmetric key cryptography

A single key system: the same key is used to encode and decode data. This key must be kept secret, as anyone who has access to it can decode the data.

Asymmetric key cryptography

Also known as public-key cryptography, asymmetric cryptography uses two different keys: a public key and a private key. The public key can be shared with anyone, as it is used to encode the data. The private key is kept secret and is used to decode the data.

A key can be a number, a word, or a phrase.