This series of posts is a compilation of the foundational texts, mailing lists, online communities, books and essays of the cryptographic movement and hacker culture.
We’ll also take a look at the core philosophy behind cryptography and ethical hacking, and how these movements influence blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
But before we dive into it, let’s clarify some terms:
What is Cryptography?
Cryptography is the use of codes and encryption to protect secrets. Traditionally, this was done in pen and paper, then with some mechanical aids.
With the arrival of computers and the Internet, the level of complexity of the encryption method increased exponentially.
The opposite of cryptography is cryptanalysis, which refers to breaking cryptography to decipher encrypted messages. Both cryptography and cryptanalysis form what is known as cryptology.
There’s a constant “arms race” between cryptographers and cryptanalysts that has had an enormous impact on History.
