What Are Some Examples Of Cryptography | Cryptography In Everyday Life

The answer to all the hackers, fraudulent activities within a computer system and security problems is Cryptography. Applications and websites used by most organizations implement various cryptography services to handle their sensitive data. So, cryptography is the main feature to safeguard shared information.

Key Takeaways

• Cryptography is a system of transmitting secured data and communication via codes
• With the help of cryptography, you can easily intercept unauthorized accessibility for the data
• If you transfer data via cryptography, then no one will be able to modify the data except for the sender and the destined receiver
• Both the sender and the receiver have to circumstantiate their own identities to transmit and receive data 

What Is Cryptography?

Cryptography refers to techniques that are used for secure communication in the presence of adversarial behavior. It’s a system of transmitting secured data and communication via codes so that only the recipient person knows about the actual information that is transmitted. So, with the help of cryptography, you can easily intercept unauthorized accessibility for the data. If you encode any information then it will be considered cryptography. Some of the important uses of cryptography are – 

Privacy: Cryptography allows you to send important data securely so that the information wouldn’t be known by external parties except for the intended individual

Reliability: Data transferred via cryptography cannot be modified while transferring between the sender and the destined receiver

Non-repudiation: Once the data is transmitted, the sender has no chance to deny it in the later phases

Authentication: Both the sender and the receiver have to circumstantiate their own identities to transmit and receive data

Types Of Cryptography

Cryptography is classified into three types. They are – 

1. Symmetric Key Cryptography

2. Asymmetric Key Cryptography

3. Hash Function    

1. Symmetric Key Cryptography

This type of cryptography is also known as Private or Secret key cryptography. In this method both the sender and receiver use a single key to encrypt and decrypt the message. The most used cryptography in this sector is AES (Advanced Encryption System). Some common types of Symmetric key cryptography are:

1. Block

2. Block cipher

3. DES (Data Encryption System)

4. RC2

5. IDEA

6. Blowfish

7. Stream cipher 

2. Asymmetric Key Cryptography

Asymmetric Key Cryptography is also known as Public-key cryptography. It follows a varied and protected method while transferring information. Here, both the sender and receiver use a couple of keys for encryption and decryption processes. The two types of keys are the public key and the private key. The private key is stored with each person and the public key is shared across the network. The most used method in this cryptography is RSA. In this method, the public key is more secure than the private key. Some common types of Asymmetric key cryptography are:

1. RSA

2. DSA

3. PKCs

4. Elliptic curve techniques  

3. Hash Function

In this method, the message is considered as arbitrary input and the output is delivered as a fixed length. The hash function is also known as a mathematical equation. This type of method doesn’t need any kind of key because it functions in a one-way scenario. Some common functionalities of the hash are:

1. Message Digest 5 (MD5)

2. RIPEMD

3. Whirlpool

4. SHA (Secure hash Algorithm)        

Use Of Cryptography In Everyday Life

There are many uses of cryptography in everyday life. They are – 

1. Authentication/Digital Signatures

2. Time Stamping

3. Electronic Money

4. Secure Network Communications

5. Anonymous Remailers

6. Disk Encryption

1. Authentication/Digital Signatures

Authentication and digital signatures are very common to use of public-key cryptography. For example, if you receive a message that is encrypted with the private key then you will need that private key to decrypt the message. Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is a software package originally developed by Phil Zimmerman and it provides encryption and authentication for e-mail and file storage applications. This software provides message encryption, digital signatures, data compression, and e-mail compatibility.  

2. Time Stamping

Time-Stamping is a type of technique that you can use to certify a certain electronic document or communication existed or was delivered at a certain time. This method uses an encryption model known as a blind signature scheme. The blind signature scheme allows the sender to send the message without revealing any information about the message. This technique is similar to sending a registered letter through U.S. mail. The only difference is, it provides an additional level of proof and prove that a recipient received a specific document. Some common application that uses Time Stamping includes patent applications, copyright archives, and contracts. 

3. Electronic Money

The term electronic money is still evolving. This method includes transactions that are carried out electronically with a net transfer of funds from one party to another. Some common examples are debit or credit card transactions. These types of transactions are made using both hardware and software implementation. Usually, cryptography is used in electronic money schemes to protect conventional transaction data. The data includes account numbers, transaction amounts, etc. Moreover, the use of digital signatures can replace handwritten signatures or credit-card authorizations.   

4. Secure Network Communications

Netscape has developed a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) which is a public-key protocol. This protocol provides data security which is layered between TCP/IP. SSL supports data encryption, server authentication, message integrity, and client authentication for TCP/IP connections. The SSL protocol uses the RSA public-key cryptosystem. Apart from the RSA public-key cryptosystem, other cryptosystems used in SSL are RC2, RC4, IDEA, DES, and triple-DES. 

5. Anonymous Remailers

This is a type of free service that removes the header information from an electronic message and then only sent the content. However, you should understand that the remailer may retain your identity and many users might relay data through several anonymous remailers. Here, only the first remailer will have your identity. Therefore, it is quite impossible to retrace your identity.   

6. Disk Encryption

This is a very common use of cryptography in daily life. You can use cryptography to encrypt your entire hard disk. There are many disks encryption programs available that you can use to easily encrypt the disk. Once you encrypt your hard disk, you don’t have to worry about leaving any traces of the unencrypted data on your disk.

FAQs About What Are Some Examples Of Cryptography | Cryptography In Everyday Life

What Is An Example Of A Cryptographic Key?

A cryptographic key is a combination of scrambled text that is beyond human recognition. An example of a cryptographic key is “KZ0KVey8l1c=”

What Are Some Examples Of Everyday Applications Of Cryptography?

Some common examples of everyday cryptography applications are – 

1. Encrypting BYOD Devices

2. Securing Sensitive Emails

3. Encrypting Databases

4. Protecting Sensitive Company Data

5. HTTPS to secure website       

What Are Cryptanalytic Attacks?

A cryptanalytic attack is a type of attack that chooses a plaintext attack on block ciphers in order to analyze pairs of plaintexts rather than single plaintexts. This type of attack helps the analyst to determine how the targeted algorithm works when it encounters different types of data.

What Is Cryptography In CSS?

Cryptography is a process of converting ordinary plain text into incomprehensible text and vice-versa. It is one of the safest ways to store and transmit data in a particular form so that only the sender and receiver can read and process it.

What Are The Different Types Of Attacks In Cryptography?

Some common types of attacks in cryptography are – 

1. Brute-Force Attack

2. Man-in-the-Middle Attack

3. Side-Channel Attacks

4. Replay Attack

5. Power Analysis Attack

6. Timing Attack    

References: 1 https://cs.lmu.edu/~ray/notes/cryptology/
References: 2 https://medium.com/@prashanthreddyt1234/real-life-applications-of-cryptography-162ddf2e917d

Last Updated on November 11, 2022 by Magalie D.