Cryptography: Protecting Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability of Data

Abstract

The protection of information for business or private purposes can be achieved through the careful selection and use of cryptographic tools. Throughout recorded history the art and science of cryptography has been the exclusive domain of government in the form of military and diplomatic use. For the most part the many and varied techniques were used for protecting strategic communications. With the advent of the microcomputer the tools to incorporate some of the complex mathematical tools necessary to provide strong encryption1 became readily available to the public at large. That availability has contributed to the proliferation and use of cryptographic tools that are capable of providing strong encryption to anyone who would care to use them. This important security technique has become the main tool for protecting communications of all kinds and is used throughout the business community. The banking community, for example, is probably one of the largest users of data encryption for the protection of their clients’ financial transactions.