CRYPTOGRAPHY HISTORY AND BASICS 1

Cryptography History and Basics

Capella University

IAS5220 – Network Security Controls and Testing.

Jan 11, 2019

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Abstract
When IT security administrator increased security gives ease to any fearful people in the

organization? Or else better still organization network security system only offers basic network

system security and protections that we are made to believe that we don’t need? Since the

internet of things have provided means of communications for people to socially interact, e-

commerce, exchange, and sharing of ideas, personal information and all these situations requires

security. This paper describes the historical application of cryptography, from ancient coded

messages through the federal contest, which resulted in the creation of AES. Discussing the

paper is analyzing the application of cryptography in SSL. The paper will review the analyzing

the application of cryptography in secure data storage. The paper will look at the application of

cryptography in secure access and authentication controls.

Keywords: Cryptography, Authentication controls, federal contest, historical application

of cryptography.
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Table of Content

 Cover Page,

 Abstract.

 Table of Content.

 Introduction/ Body

 Conclusion

 References
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Introduction

The various ways of network system security and applications define from securing

business and organization commerce transaction, payment processing to secure and insecure

communication, health care management, and protection. To be able to do all that situations

insecure way is the cryptography for the secure communication in between applications, network

devices, and technologies. Cryptography background from history is that in Greek it comes from

the work KRYTOS which is hidden, by cryptography we are learning of hidden writing or the

science of encryption and decryption of message or text. History has that oldest cryptography

text in 4000 years ago in the Egyptian town of Menet Khufu in which a hieroglyphic text writing

on the ancient tomb of aristocrat KHNUMHOTEP II which were inscribed in unusual symbols to

confuse anyone who enters the tombs (SANS, 2001, 2-4).

Also, 5BC the Spartans from Spain also used the cryptography device which is a cylinder

type Scytale with leather narrow strip on it to aid it in the transportation to the receiver and also

attached to the leather is tape with inscribed letters of meaningless words which needs to reword

and reshaped the words to same words diameter to see the coded message by unwinding the

attached tape that is how Scytale is used to send secure message and receive message too. In the

Greek era there also, cryptography writers of novels such as the Polybius who uses the

substitution cipher and Julius Ceasar who also send an encrypted letter and government

communications letter by the substitution cipher in the letter is encrypted in the text and different

positions in a letter to the right. Where in his letter A is ciphertext of D, plaintext V is ciphertext

Y? also, in 1466 he called the father of western cryptography who is Leon Battista Alberti who

invented the ciphers Poly ALPHABETIC leading the French cryptographer Blaise de Vigenere

who develop the VIGENERE SQUARE (SANS, 2001p 4-6).

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There were also different forms of cryptographers in history such the Chinese in order to

protect their manufacturing secrets of silk and pottery used ciphers letters for protections of their

trades secrets. The Germans in the World War 11 in order send the secure messages and military

secrets in cryptography by using the Enigma machine. The Assyrian merchants also develop the

cryptography of intaglio for identification of themselves in the trading market. Also, the 500 –

600 BC the Hebrew writers wrote the Jeremiah in the Bible in the reversed-alphabet knows as

the ATBASH. In Arabic in 725-790 A.D the Abd al-Rahman al-Khalil ibn Ahmad ibn Tammam

al Farahidi al-Zadi al Yahmadi who wrote the lost book in Aramaic in cryptography. In the

modern age of 1790 to 1994 Thomas Jefferson, William Frederick Friedman, IBM 1976 Lucifer

cipher, Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman, Diffie-Hellman, Xuejia Lai, James Massey 1990,

Phil Zimmermann and Professor Ron Rivest. All these personalities in one way their other have

invented and developed cryptography device or technologies to supported encryption such as

RC2 algorithms, Pretty Good Privacy, IDEA algorithms, RSA algorithms, Public Key

Cryptography, and Wheel cipher (SANS 2001, p 7-9).

Cryptography and Encryption are used to secure, encrypt, decrypt and protect sensitive

information or communication data by algorithms role and key limit. The main responsibility of

the cryptography and encryption is to work as a key exchange, non-repudiation,

Confidentiality/privacy, Integrity, and Authentication. Since in the cryptography and encryption

is for plaintext which encoded to ciphertext, when encrypted plaintext is done the ciphertext is

decrypted. We are able to breakdown the cryptography into algorithms for encryptions and

decryptions such as the secret key cryptography, public key cryptography, and hash functions.

Secret Key Cryptography works on a single primary key for the encryption and decryption for

the sender use a single key for plaintext encryption to ciphertext to receive the same single key to
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decrypt. Public Key Cryptography which is single key for encryption and the other key for

decryption.

Secure Sockets Layer which provides applications autonomous security and protection

over the internet. It supports applications and protocols like FTP, HTTP, Telnet and server

authentication, client authentication. Virtual Network using SSL allows for secure connections

over the internet so that end user can securely access various network system through the secure

gateway portal either remotely or onsite. Also, users are able to authenticate before remotely or

onsite access through the gateway portal. Also, the SSL VPN tunneling for also secure gateway

access over the internet. Even though there is authentication using some third-party services such

as PKI, RADIUS, and Kerberos many more. The benefits of SSL are there is no need for

installation and configuration on the application, also it has the granulated access control on

software where the firewall is already exposed on the TCP port 443. The hindrance of SSL on

the enterprise network an attacker bridges the gateway access using the SSL VPN to access the

enterprise network system. When not properly configured in the enterprise network system

internet parameter it can allow for worms and virus affect the network system (Harangsri, 2002,

p 5-8) .

Application of cryptography in a secure data storage such as distributing cryptographic

files which are stored can be shared for the end user to access through key management access

control policy, there is also the object-relationship storage which is the allowance of fixed scope

disk to be denied access to a variable scope of the object. There is a secure model for the

restrictions of access to the storage disk for only authorized end users. There is also security

model of access control policies, key management policies for providing the file layer or object

layer security policies for the data confidentiality, integrity, and accountability which is with a
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connection to encryption and decryption of the storage data security (Opera, 2007, p 12-14).

Application of cryptography in the secure access and authentication controls with access

control list secure network system technologies for its outbound and inbound network traffic

access to the IP address and network protocols. IT security administrators are able to implement

these network security management procedures base on the organization security policies

established. IT administrators will implement these network security policies such as IP address

spoofing, MAC address filtering and deny, Denying and Filtering of trace routes, ICMP, LDAP

search, localhost address, unknown source address which wants to access the enterprise network

system. Configuring of firewall devices IDS/IPS, set permission on a set or entire directories and

IP address multicast (Oracle, wen, para 12- 17).

Organization facilities security in which the security of facilities are implemented for

physical barricades not to allow unauthorized access to the organization facilities only the

authorized and permitted users can have access to secure organization facilities and technologies.

Looking from the history of cryptography to encryption and the rate at which Internet of Things

are advancing at a faster rate there is need to have organization information security policy that

will take into recognition all these challenges we face today.

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References

Microsoft. (n.d.). Administrator Checklist: Prepare the Configuration Manager Environment for

Operating System Deployment. Date retrieved 01/13/2018, from

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb681054.aspx

Harangsri, Banchong “Introduction to Nessus, a Vulnerability Scanner”, 6/07/2002,

LinuxSecurity.Com Date retrieved 01/13/2018,

URL:http://www.linuxsecurity.com/feature_stories/nesusintro-printer.html

Oracle Sun Microsystems. (n.d). Access Control, Authentication, and Encryption. Date retrieved

01/13/2018, https://docs.oracle.com: https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19901-01/817-

7607/aci.html

Opera, A. M. (2007). Efficient Cryptographic Techniques for Security Storage Systems. Date

retrieved 01/13/2018 https://www.cs.unc.edu/~reiter/theses/aoprea.pdf

SANS (2001) Institute History of Encryption, Date retrieved 01/13/2018,

https://www.sans.org/reading-room/whitepapers/vpns/history-encryption-730

RSA: Rivest, Shamir, and Adleman, ``A method for obtaining digital signatures and public key

cryptosystems'', Communications of the ACM, Feb. 1978, pp. 120-126.

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