Cryptography is the study of methods and algorithms used for encryption of data for converting plain text to cipher text.
Network Security deals with the measures that are taken to protect the data against any kind of misuse, alteration of data or unauthorized access of the data.
Security Objectives
The key security objectives or goals in cryptography are as follows:
- Confidentiality
- Integrity
- Availability
- Authentication
- Non repudiation
Confidentiality suggests that the data is locked and the data is secured between two parties that are involved in conversation.
If people outside the two parties are able to read this information, it means that the data is not confidential and secure.
Integrity suggests that there is no modification or alteration of data.
If there is any alteration of data, it means there is no integrity in data.
Availability suggests that the data is available to all the people who have authorized access to it.
Authentication means that the sender and receiver should confirm each other’s identity.
Non repudiation is an assurance that the sender and receiver are not able to deny the sending of a message or transmission.
Importance of Cryptography
Today, cryptography plays an important role as it creates encryption techniques that perform all five major key security objectives.
So it uses various algorithms and techniques to encrypt the data. Let’s see them below.
Symmetric Encryption
This method uses same key for encryption and decryption It is secret key encryption.
This method uses private key.
Firstly, the plain text is encrypted using a key and the same key is used at the receiver side for decryption of the message.
Example of symmetric encryption is Advanced Encryption Standard(AES).
Asymmetric Encryption
Asymmetric encryption is public key encryption method.
It uses public key for encryption and private key for decryption.
This algorithm is more secure as compared to symmetric encryption because it uses two different keys for the whole process.
Most commonly used asymmetric encryption algorithms are DSA, RSA.
Techniques of Cryptography
- Substitution Techniques
- Transposition Techniques
Substitution techniques uses some letter to substitute another letter for encryption purpose. There are various substitution methods.
Substitution Methods
- Caesar Cipher
- Mono alphabetic Cipher
- Playfair Cipher
- Poly alphabetic Cipher
Transposition technique is a method in which position of letter or order of letter is shifting regularly.
Transposition Methods
- Rail Fence Technique
- Column Transposition
Benefits of Network Security
- Ensures data has reliable access.
- Keeps a check on network performance.
- Ensures protection of data against cyber threats.
- Identifies legitimate access to systems and applications.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we learnt about the importance and significance of cryptography and network security.
There are different encryption techniques including symmetric and asymmetric encryption.
We saw the key security objectives and benefits of network security.
