Encryption

Encryption

In line with Nadine Santos & Richard C. Li

about Encryption in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement:

The concept of encryption dates back to the time of Greek and Roman generals, who used the technique in their fields of battle. Similar methods have since been employed in many situations of war. Cryptography is also used by civilians for protecting industrial and scientific secrets and financial information. The function of the encryption is to protect the confidentiality, the authenticity, and the integrity of the message. Encryption is used to scramble the information or message sent so that unauthorized persons cannot read the content. The technique also provides digital signatures that can be used to identify the author of a message. Furthermore, methods have been developed to verify that a message has not been altered during the transmission process. In situations in which information needs to be protected, the effectiveness of the transmission of messages becomes crucial.