This tutorial covers the basics of the science of cryptography. It explains how programmers and network professionals can use cryptography to maintain the privacy of computer data. Starting with the origins of cryptography, it moves on to explain cryptosystems, various traditional and modern ciphers, pubpc key encryption, data integration, message authentication, and digital signatures.

Audience

This tutorial is meant for students of computer science who aspire to learn the basics of cryptography. It will be useful for networking professionals as well who would pke to incorporate various cryptographic algorithms to ensure secure data communication over their networks.

Prerequisites

This tutorial has been prepared with the view to make it useful for almost anyone who is curious about cryptography. A basic knowledge of computer science and a secondary level of mathematics knowledge is sufficient to make the most of this tutorial.