Cryptography: Early Applications and Examples 57
evolved dramatically over time, but its underlying goal has never changed, though the tools
have. As information has changed and human beings have gotten smarter, the technology
has become substantially more advanced to keep up with changing issues and threats. If
you look back in time and trace the evolution of the science up to the current day, you’ll see
that technology in the form of increasingly powerful computers has made the process more
complex and innovative as well as stronger.
In the field of cryptography, the topic of encryption gets by far the most attention and can
probably be said to be the “sexy” form of the art. Other techniques such as steganography
also belong in this field, but encryption is the one that attracts the most attention for manipu-
lating and protecting information. Also within the field of cryptography is something known
as cryptanalysis, which deals with unlocking or uncovering the secrets that others try so hard
to hide or obscure. Cryptanalysis is an old science that has been around as long as people
have been trying to keep things secret.
History of Cryptography
I know you purchased this book not for history lessons, but for information on how to
become an ethical hacker. Yet you can learn things by studying the history of cryptogra-
phy that can help you relate to the techniques a little better. Early cultures taught us that
cryptography is simply a technique or group of techniques used to protect information. The
primitive techniques of times past may look antiquated and simple in the face of today’s
complex and mind-numbing technologies, but the basic concept has not changed.
Cryptography is far from being a new technology and has existed for a very long time.
The story goes back at least 4,000 years if not longer. Some systems developed during the
science’s long history may have dropped out of use whereas others have evolved, yet the
concept is the same. Let’s look at some of the early applications of cryptography to demys-
tify this topic and make it more understandable.
Interestingly enough, if you go back far enough you’ll find that some older
cultures and civilizations found the practice of writing in code to be tan-
tamount to conversing with the devil or evil spirits. In fact, the practice in
some parts of the world was associated with nothing less than spiritual
properties and frequently “black magic.”The intricate patterns and glyphs used in Egyptian hieroglyphics were commonly used for
spiritual and religious reasons. The ancient Egyptians were probably using the system not so
much to withhold secrets but because they wanted a special writing system to commune with
their gods and eternity. It is believed that only members of the royal family and the religious
orders could fully understand how to read and write the system and comprehend it fully.
We will never know for sure when the language died out, but we are some-
what sure that the last individuals who could render it natively passed
away over 1,500 years ago.