It will be a public algorithm designed to protect sensitive government information well into the next century. Encryption is the transformation of data into a form that is nearly impossible to read without the appropriate knowledge, a key. Its purpose is to ensure privacy by keeping information hidden from anyone for whom it is not intended, even those who have access to the encrypted data. In order to decipher an encrypted message by brute force, one would need to try every possible key. Therefore, the 56-bit key creates 72 quadrillion possible combinations.
Authentication is a fundamental part of our lives just as is privacy.
We use authentication throughout our lives when we sign our name to a document for instance. And as we move through a world where our decisions and agreements are communicated electronically, we need to have electronic techniques for providing authentication. Secure Communication Secure communication is the most straightforward use of cryptography. Two people may communicate securely by encrypting the messages sent between them. Handshake Protocol is able to negotiate encryption keys as well as authenticate the server before data is exchanged by the higher-level application.