Importance of Cryptography in Cybersecurity
In the digital age, cryptography plays a critical role in protecting data and communications from malicious actors. It ensures that sensitive information remains confidential and intact, even in the presence of cyber threats.
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Confidentiality: Cryptography ensures that only authorized users can access sensitive information. Without encryption, data transferred over networks (e.g., passwords, credit card numbers, personal information) is vulnerable to interception and theft.
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Integrity: Cryptographic techniques such as hashing ensure that data remains unaltered during transmission. A hash is a fixed-length output that represents the contents of a message, and any change to the data will result in a different hash, signaling potential tampering.
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Authentication: Cryptography helps verify the identity of users and systems. For example, digital certificates and public-key infrastructure (PKI) enable users to trust the identity of websites and other entities they interact with online.
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Non-repudiation: Cryptography ensures that once a message has been sent or a transaction made, the sender cannot deny having done so. This is achieved through digital signatures, which provide proof of authenticity.
Cryptography is indispensable in cybersecurity, securing everything from online banking transactions to private emails and government communications.