Most people don't use cryptography simply because they don't know what it is, or they have erroneous ideas about it, such as being extremely complex, expensive and even outlawed. They are also not aware of the risks and dangers they face by not using it.
On the other side, the largest IT companies and e-mail providers also do not provide adequate information on this issue and resist implementing cryptography in their systems be- cause it would increase their costs without giving them direct benefits.
We believe that cryptography is essential and necessary to maintain privacy and security of digital communications, and the more people adopt this technology, the more it becomes an indispensable item which will come together with every service.
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This guide was developed to help people understand what is cryptography, how it works and why they should use it. It deals primarily with email cryptography, but there are also sections covering offline usage for local files.
Most people don't use cryptography simply because they don't know what it is, or they have erroneous ideas about it, such as being extremely complex, expensive and even outlawed. They are also not aware of the risks and dangers they face by not using it.
On the other side, the largest IT companies and email providers also do not provide adequate information on this issue and resist implementing cryptography in their systems because it would increase their costs without giving them direct benefits.
We believe that cryptography is essential and necessary to maintain privacy and security of digital communications, and the more people adopt this technology, the more it becomes an indispensable item which will come together with every service.
This guide is destined to laypersons, so it is easy to understand and there is no need of prior advanced knowledge. You will learn how to install and configure all the necessary programs to have cryptography working in your system, and by the end you will be able to communicate with other people with maximum privacy and security.
What is cryptography?
Cryptography is the process of encoding and decoding information, messages and files using secret code with the purpose of offering privacy and security. This can be accomplished through machines, computer programs, or both.
Cryptography is always used when there is a need to transmit information in a secure way between two parts, ensuring that only the sender and the receiver will be able to decipher its original content. Anyone who tries to intercept it without authorization will only see a bunch of symbols and codes that makes no sense, and will not be able to decipher it.
Cryptography has existed for thousands of years, but for most part of its history it was considered a military tool, being used almost exclusivel by governments and armies due to its high cost and complexity.
Things started to change with the emergence of personal computers and the internet. With the advent of those technologies, high level cryptography became affordable to the general public at the same time that the need for more secure systems was increasing.
Today cryptography is essential for many areas in our society and it is employed in a variety of systems including personal computing, mobile phones, banking systems, magnetic cards, ATM machines, electronic commerce, data storage, wireless devices, etc. However few users are aware of cryptography's presence in our life, and even fewer know how to use it or how it works internally
This guide is destined to laypersons, so it is easy to understand and there is no need of prior advanced knowledge. You will learn how to install and configure all the necessary pro - grams to have cryptography working in your system, and by the end you will be able to communicate with other people with maximum privacy and security.
