Welcome to the Pathway Programs module on Cryptography.

Computer security systems have come a long way since they were first introduced, however there is no such thing as a 100% secure system. There will always be bugs and security experts plan the best they can. Security architects employ a strategy called defense in depth. This uses many layers of varying security systems to frustrate attackers.

It is a bit like how castles are designed. First, you have to dodge the archers, then cross the moat, scale the castle walls, defeat the guards on the ramparts before you finally get to the throne room. But in our case, we are talking about one of the most common forms of computer security as we explore cryptography.

In this module, we will cover:

• Practical cryptography using encryption, authentication, and hashing.
• Fundamentals of symmetric and asymmetric cryptography.
• Block and stream ciphers, cryptographic hash functions, and message authentication codes.
• Creating and managing public/private key for message digests.
• Calculating approximate strength of ciphers, authentication and password systems.