What is Cryptography?
Cryptography is the science of secure communications, derived from the Greek words kryptós meaning "hidden" and lógos, meaning "word." The first recorded use of cryptography was by the Spartans who as early as 400 BC developed a cylinder device called a scytale to send secret messages. Once unwrapped, the parchment appeared to contain an incomprehensible set of letters; however, wrapped around another baton of identical size, the aligned letters appeared.
Cryptographers developed more and more ingenious systems, but it was in the 20th Century that the science truly took off. The Enigma Machine was an electromechanical encryption device used extensively by the German forces. Alan Turing, a brilliant mathematician, helped break the Enigma ciphers at Bletchley Park, which contributed significantly to the success of Allied forces.
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