This course will take you through the basic principles of cryptographic security, help understand how cryptography secures digital assets and how cryptography works in the world of cryptocurrencies, and will focus on symmetric encryption, asymmetric encryption, and, hashing, and digital signatures, which are common types of techniques used in the crypto world.
Cryptography Provides the Foundation for Encryption
Cryptography provides an important secure encryption method for the cryptocurrency space, ensuring that sensitive data such as private keys, personally identifiable information and transaction details are securely protected in financial transactions.
By incorporating cryptography, cryptography can effectively help prevent fraud. For example, authentication of both parties to the transaction, i.e., the sender and the receiver, ensures authorized operation of funds. In turn, fraudulent transactions are prevented and funds are guaranteed to be transferred only between authorized parties.
Cryptography also ensures the security of transactions and user data by employing complex mathematical algorithms.
Common Types of Encryption Techniques
Symmetric Cryptography
Symmetric encryption algorithms, as the name implies, use the same key for both encryption and decryption processes. The advantage of this type of algorithm is the high efficiency of encryption and decryption (fast and small space occupation) and the high strength of encryption.
However, the disadvantage is that the participants need to hold the key in advance, and in case of leakage, the system security is broken. Also, it is difficult to distribute keys in advance in insecure message channels, which is usually achieved with the help of additional Diffie-Hellman negotiation protocols or asymmetric encryption algorithms.
Asymmetric Cryptography
Unlike symmetric encryption, the process generates two separate sets of passwords, a "public key" and a "private key".
The private key is equivalent to the password of your personal account on other websites and platforms, which will not be known by others; the public key is similar to a username that is publicly visible and is used to unlock files signed by the "private key", similar to a platform where you can find your personal page by your username, but can not log in to tamper with your information or post information on your behalf without your private key.
Blockchain, on the other hand, is composed of many "blocks", and the actions generated on each chain need to be verified and encrypted by a cryptographer with the corresponding public and private keys. Therefore, when you initiate a transaction using blockchain, you will be required to sign the data with your "private key", while others who are also on blockchain and want to read the content of the file will only need to use another key, "public key", to read the file.
Elliptic Curve Cryptography
Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), actually an asymmetric encryption, is a cryptographic algorithm based mainly on elliptic curve mathematics. It is usually used in blockchain systems. It provides a high level of security while using smaller keys, providing faster performance and higher levels of security.
Hash Function
Hash function, or hashing, is a computational process, and a hash algorithm is an algorithm that can input data of any size and output a predictable and fixed-size hash.In a hashing algorithm, if the input changes, the output will be completely different. As long as the input remains the same, the output hash will always be the same, no matter how many times the hash function is run.
Hash functions are also used in consensus mechanisms that validate transactions. For example, on the Bitcoin blockchain, the proof-of-work (PoW) algorithm employs a hash function called SHA-256, which takes the input data and computes it to output a hash that is 256 bits long, or 64 characters long.
Disclaimer
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Crypto investment involves significant risks. Please proceed with caution. The course shall not be considered investment or financial advice.