0x700 CRYPTOLOGY
Cryptology is defined as the study of cryptography or
cryptanalysis. Cryptography is simply the process of com-
municating secretly through the use of ciphers, and
cryptanalysis is the process of cracking or deciphering
such secret communications. Historically, cryptology has been of particular
interest during wars, when countries used secret codes to communicate with
their troops while also trying to break the enemy’s codes to infiltrate their
communications.
The wartime applications still exist, but the use of cryptography in
civilian life is becoming increasingly popular as more critical transactions
occur over the Internet. Network sniffing is so common that the paranoid
assumption that someone is always sniffing network traffic might not be so
paranoid. Passwords, credit card numbers, and other proprietary information
can all be sniffed and stolen over unencrypted protocols. Encrypted com-
munication protocols provide a solution to this lack of privacy and allow
the Internet economy to function. Without Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)