Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adversarial behavior. It involves protecting information and communications through the use of codes, so that only those for whom the information is intended can read and process it. Cryptography is about constructing and analyzing protocols that prevent third parties or the public from reading private messages. Modern cryptography exists at the intersection of the disciplines of mathematics, computer science, information security, electrical engineering, digital signal processing, physics, and others.
Cryptography techniques include encryption, which is the process of converting ordinary information (called plaintext) into an unintelligible form (called ciphertext), and decryption, which is the reverse process of moving from the unintelligible ciphertext back to plaintext. Cryptography is used for authentication in many different situations, such as when accessing a bank account, logging into a computer, or using a secure network. Cryptography is an essential cybersecurity tool that ensures privacy and confidentiality and helps keep data from being stolen by cybercriminals.
