In fact, we can even conduct conference calls with our boss using a computer in the comfort of our living room. We can read newspapers online and we can even watch movies on our computer. We can even buy our groceries and the latest designer clothes online. However, with these new communication and computer technologies comes new challenges regarding security and privacy of information. In order to prevent information we dispense into computers from being easily intercepted by unwanted recipients, cryptography has been developed as a security technique.
Cryptography protects information stored and transferred by computers to a very high degree.
When cryptography or encryption was first developed, it was used only to protect confidential military, medical, or other governmental material. There is a need to protect financial information, business files, and even individual messages. While many are advocating the use of encryption for export and transfer of personal information, the government is opposed to the wide distribution of encryption tactics. This paper discusses what encryption is, the claims made by encryption advocates, the claims made by opponents of encryption, the history and current U.S. law regarding encryption, and what I think of this newly emerging technology.