Laura La Bella - Ciphers, Codes, Algorithms, and Keys

Without even realizing it, encryption has become a daily part of our lives. With every password you type, you are using it.

There are a variety of ways to encrypt information. Ciphers, codes, algorithms, and keys all aid in hiding and masking text so that it can be sent safely to its intended audience.

Ciphers are a way to make a message secret by changing or rearranging the letters in a message. They can be simple and done using paper or and pen. Or they can be highly complex and use powerful computing software. Codes are a system of symbols that represent letters, numbers, or words. These are used to mask information and make it difficult for someone to understand your intended message. Algorithms are sequences of processes, or rules, used to encipher and decipher messages. They are complex mathematical equations that are impossible to complete without powerful computing software. Unlocking all of the information hidden by ciphers, codes, and algorithms are keys. A key is a variable that is applied using an algorithm, which is a complex mathematical equation, to a plaintext message to produce encrypted text or to decrypt text. You can think of a key as the secret piece of information that unlocks encrypted information. Without a key, the hidden information, however it has been encrypted, is useless.

Cryptography is the art of keeping information secure, whereas cryptanalysis is the science of breaking encoded data. Many cryptanalysts are highly educated mathematicians. The branch of mathematics encompassing both cryptography and cryptanalysis is called cryptology. This field is exciting and evolving quickly, and it offers exciting career opportunities. Understanding cryptography is the first step to getting a solid foundation in learning how encryption affects our daily lives.

C HAPTER 1

C RYPTOGRAPHY: A S ECRET L ANGUAGE

T he National Security Agency (NSA) has been in charge of encryption systems for the US government since 1952, when the NSA was formed. The foundation of the NSA can trace its roots back to World War I, when codes and ciphers were used by many foreign countries to encrypt secret messages being sent from military leaders to their troops around the world.

Today, the NSA is an intelligence agency that is responsible for monitoring, collecting, and processing information and data on a global scale. They also protect our nations communication and information systems. According to the agencys website, the mission of the NSA is to develop and manage outstanding cryptologic systems and tools, make sense of and secure electronically gathered information, and intensify national security systems and other crucial operations and data as needed.

While the vast majority of the NSAs contributions to the world of cryptography are classified and cannot be shared with the public, one of its most significant contributions to American security came during the Cold War, a long-standing political and military dispute that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union for more than forty years. The Verona Project was a secret program that began in February 1943 when cryptologists began working to break KGB (state security police in the former Soviet Union) encrypted communications being sent from the Soviet Union to the United States. The KGB was the main security agency for the Soviet Union from the mid 1950s until the break up of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991. The Verona Project cracked encrypted information being sent to and from Soviet spies living in the United States. The project uncovered significant spy rings in the United States, espionage missions, and the identities of many Soviet spies. The Verona Project had hundreds of cryptanalysts working for forty years to decrypt more than three thousand Soviet messages. The Verona Project is a prime example of cryptography at work to ensure our national security.

W HAT I S C RYPTOGRAPHY ?

Cryptography is the science of making information secure by using encryption to transform numbers, words, text, sounds, and images into a stream of unintelligible information.

Encryption surrounds us and makes it possible for us to do many of our day-to-day activities. For every call made on your cell phone, every purchase made in a store or on the internet, and every text message or email you send, an image of the information (cell phone numbers, credit card numbers, text messages, images, and more) is scrambled using encryption.

There are many ways to encrypt information. Some forms are simple while others are extremely complex. Most involve swapping letters for numbers and using mathematic algo- rithms to perform the transformation of comprehendible information into unintelligible data. Regardless of how the information is encrypted, the scrambled informa- tion should give no clues as to how it was encrypted. The how is the secret to maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of the scrambled data. Encryption secures the information and makes it impossible for someone to understand it, unless they hold the key to decrypting it. Decryption is the process of taking the encrypted data and unscrambling it into its original, understandable form.