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What is Cryptography?

Faisal Ameen

The German Lorenz cipher machine, used in World War II for encryption of very high-level general staff messages

Cryptography (or cryptology; derived from Greek êñõðôüò kryptós "hidden," and ãñÜöåéí gráfein "to write") is a discipline of mathematics concerned with information security and related issues, particularly encryption, authentication, and access control.

Its purpose is to hide the meaning of a message rather than its existence. In modern times, it has also branched out into computer science. Cryptography is central to the techniques used in computer and network security for such things as access control and information confidentiality.

Cryptography is used in many applications that touch everyday life; the security of ATM cards, computer passwords and electronic commerce all depend on cryptography.

(Source: Internet)

A ghost story.....

John, a Sydney University student, was on the side of the road hitchhiking on a very dark night and in the midst of a terrible storm that was so strong he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him. The night rolled on and no cars went by. Finally, he saw a car slowly come towards him and stop. Desperate for shelter and without thinking about it, John hopped in the car and closed the door, only to realize there was nobody behind the wheel and the car engine wasn't on! Then the car started slowly moving again. Freaking out, John broke into a cold, cold sweat. He looked at the road and saw a curve approaching. Totally scared, John started to pray, like he had never done before in his entire life. Then, just before the car hit the curve, a hand appeared through the window and turned the wheel. John, paralyzed with absolute terror, watched how the hand appeared every time they came to a curve. Suddenly, he saw the lights from a pub down the road. Gathering his strength and courage, he jumped out of the car and ran to it. Wet and out of breath, he rushed inside and asked for two shots of tequila. He then started telling everybody about his horrible experience that he had just went through. A silence enveloped everybody in the pub as they realized he was not drunk. About 15 minutes later, two guys walked into the same pub. They were also wet and out of breath. Looking around and seeing John sobbing at the bar, one guy said to the other, "Look there is the bloody idiot that got into the car while we were pushing it."