Cryptography

Article By:

Wang, Xunhua Department of Computer Science, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Coppersmith, Don IBM Corporation, Kingston, New York.

Matyas, Stephen M. IBM Systems Communication Division, Kingston, New York.

Meyer, Carl H. IBM Systems, Communications Division, Kingston, New York.

Last reviewed:January 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.170600

The various mechanisms for data confidentiality, data authentication, and nonrepudiation (that is, the property to prevent the denial of previous commitments or actions). Cryptography, with a long history of being an art of secret writing, has evolved into a science. As society is increasingly dependent upon computers, the vast amounts of data communicated, processed, and stored within computer systems and networks often have to be protected, and cryptography is a means of achieving this. It provides confidentiality services for transmitted data as well as stored data. Cryptographic techniques can also be used for message authentication, entity authentication, and digital signature verification for electronic funds transfer and credit card transactions. See also: Computer security; Data communications; Database management system; Digital computer; Electrical communications

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