Cryptography is the technique of securing information and communications through

use of codes so that only those persons for whom the information is intended can
understand it and process it. Thus preventing unauthorized access to information.
In Cryptography the techniques which are used to protect information are obtained
from mathematical concepts and a set of rule based calculations known as
algorithms to convert messages in ways that make it hard to decode it. These
algorithms are used for cryptographic key generation, digital signing, verification to
protect data privacy, web browsing on the internet and to protect confidential
transactions such as credit card and debit card transactions.

Cryptography is followed by the organizations to go with the objectives of:

i. Privacy – The transmitted data should not be known by external parties except for
the intended individual.
ii. Reliability – the data cannot be modified in storage or transfer between the
sender and the destined receiver having no kind of modification.
iii. Non-repudiation – Once the data is transmitted, the sender has no chance to
deny it in the later phases.
iv. Authentication – Both the sender and receiver need to circumstantiate their own
identities about the transmitted and received data.

Cryptography Types
In cryptography, encryption of the information is classified as two types those are
discussed below:

i. Symmetric Key Cryptography:

It is an encryption system where the sender and receiver of a message use a single
common key to encrypt and decrypt messages. Symmetric Key Systems are faster
and simpler but the problem is that sender and receiver have to somehow exchange
keys in a secure manner. The most popular symmetric key cryptography system is
Data Encryption System(DES).

-> It only requires a single key for both encryption and decryption.
-> The size of cipher text is the same or smaller than the original plain text.
-> The encryption process is very fast.
-> It is used when a large amount of data is required to transfer.
-> It only provides confidentiality.
-> Examples: 3DES, AES, DES and RC4
-> In symmetric key encryption, resource utilization is low as compared to
asymmetric key encryption.
ii. Asymmetric Key Cryptography:
Under this system a pair of keys is used to encrypt and decrypt information. A public
key is used for encryption and a private key is used for decryption. Public key and
Private Key are different. Even if the public key is known by everyone, the intended
receiver can only decode it because he alone knows the private key.

-> It requires two keys, one to encrypt and the other one to decrypt.
-> The size of cipher text is the same or larger than the original plain text.
-> The encryption process is slow.
-> It is used to transfer small amounts of data.
-> It provides confidentiality, authenticity and non-repudiation.
-> Examples: Diffie-Hellman, ECC, El Gamal, DSA and RSA
-> In asymmetric key encryption, resource utilization is high.