Technology: A Major Motivator in Encryption

How has technology spurred the invention and implementation of increasingly secure forms of encryption?

With the invention of the telegraph in 1753, a new interest in cryptography was sparked. With this new form of communication came new threats to privacy and information security. The telegraph allowed efficient and quick transmittal of data, but it also exposed that data to a new set of problems. Its reliance on third parties to not only transmit the message, but also read and translate the message from its morse code form to plain english, created new methods for the interception of data. Add to that the long stretches of unguarded telegraph wires just waiting to be tapped, and the need for more secure forms of encryption quickly became apparent.

This pattern has repeated itself throughout the last 250 plus years. As new methods of communication are created, the need for security has also grown. Both the internet and the growth of telecommunications have greatly increased our need for privacy. Today, more and more of our banking, commerce, and communication occurs digitally over vast networks accessed by billions of users. With the expansion of the internet and other forms of digital communication, the user is exposed to more and more threats to their privacy. Numerous organizations and individuals operate through the collection and sale of data collected on their users, and malicious software is a constant threat to legal and financial information. Never has security been more important. This increased need for security has motivated the development and implementation of many advanced forms of encryption. As the universal standard for internet encryption, public-key cryptography is used to secure almost all forms of digital data transfer, from ecommerce and email to SSL communication. SSH, IPSec and various wireless encryption protocols such as WPA2 are also widely used to encrypt network data and protect users from third parties snooping on their wireless communication. These and many other standard forms of digital encryption are essential for our current digital ecosystem to function and thrive. We can only hope that the future of encryption will continue to develop and grow with the needs of the technology that has become an increasing part of our lives.