What is cryptology? and what are its major areas of application?
Cryptology is the study of cryptography and cryptanalysis, and ensures secure communication among entities. And it is the umbrella concept that encompasses both cryptography and cryptanalysis, and concerned with study and practice of both concepts as well. Cryptography is the study of secret writing and focuses on protecting data by concealing it from anyone who is not authorized to see, access or modify a data through cryptographic algorithms. Cryptanalysis, on the other hand, concerns with analyzing cryptographic algorithms to figure out weakness to access the data without possessing the right cryptographic key. Cryptology is thus the study of cryptography and cryptanalysis concepts with the aim of establishing secure communication channels and storage systems.
The most common mathematical concepts used in cryptology include the following:
- Large integer and prime number factorization problem
- Discrete logarithmic functions
- Elliptic curve discrete logarithmic functions