• Compare ways of encrypting and decrypting data using shared symmetric-key methods
• Understand the basics of public key cryptography, including key pairs, digital signatures, and encryption/decryption
• Compare the pros and cons of using public key cryptography versus symmetric-key methods

Cryptographic Chronicles: Embarking on Zuri’s Journey to Safeguard Data

Let’s revisit Zuri and her college internship. Zuri, a college student who has a passion for cybersecurity, just started a new internship at a local cybersecurity firm. She has just been assigned to the “Digital Defense League”, a special unit responsible for the protection of the digital space in her area. After her success with helping ensure the safety of three organizations using positional systems and bases, Zuri has been promoted to the cryptography team. Her new role is integral to maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of her companies data. Let’s help Zuri navigate various methods of cryptography!

 

Substitution Cipher

Zuri’s teammate, Alice, has encrypted a message to test her skills using a basic substitution cipher. Given that ‘a’ has been replaced with ‘d’, ‘b’ with ‘e’, ‘c’ with ‘f’ and so forth, Alice’s message reads “lwc”.

Being part of the cryptography team, Zuri must analyze the efficiency and practicality of different encryption methods. Let’s help her understand a different symmetric-key method.

Transposition Cipher

Bob, another member of the “Digital Defense League”, has been working with transposition ciphers. He’s scrambled a word by shifting each character two places to the right, resulting in “atthec”. He passes the message to Zuri to decode.