What does "cryptography" study?

Cryptography primarily studies techniques for secure communication and keeping information secret. It encompasses the methods and algorithms used to transform data into a secure format, which can only be understood by authorized parties. This is crucial for ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of data being transmitted over potentially insecure channels.

The field includes various practices such as encryption, where readable data is transformed into a coded format unreadable by unauthorized users, and decryption, which is the reverse process. By utilizing mathematical theories and computational methods, cryptography protects sensitive information from unauthorized access, thereby playing a fundamental role in data security, secure communications (like SSL and TLS), and the implementation of security protocols in various applications, including online banking and confidential messaging.

Understanding this aspect of cryptography is essential for professionals in cybersecurity, as it underpins many security frameworks and helps safeguard against threats such as eavesdropping, data tampering, and forgery.