Security Services and Cryptography

Abstract

The origin of the word cryptology lies in ancient Greek. The word cryptology is made up of two components: kryptos, which means hidden and logos, which means word. Cryptology is as old as writing itself, and has been used for thousands of years to safeguard military and diplomatic communications. For example, the famous Roman emperor Julius Caesar used a cipher to protect the messages to his troops. Within the field of cryptology one can see two separate divisions: cryptography and cryptanalysis. The cryptographer seeks methods to ensure the safety and security of data communications while the cryptanalyst tries to undo the former’s work by breaking these systems.