Encryption algorithms made natural
Misha Koshelev, Владик Крейнович, Luc Longpré · 1999
Modern cryptographic algorithms, such as DES, IDEA, etc., are very complex and therefore difficult to learn. Textbooks explain in detail how these algorithms work, but they usually do not explain why these algorithms were designed as they were. In this paper, we explain why, and thus, hopefully, make cryptographic algorithms easier to learn. Cryptography is important. Our economy is becoming more and more dependent on networked computers; the Internet, intranets, and the World Wide Web are becoming more and more important. Therefore, communication security is playing an ever-increasing role. One of the main methods of achieving communication security is encryption; therefore it is important to teach encryption and decryption algorithms. Cryptography is complex. Modern cryptographic algorithms, such as DES, IDEA, etc., are very complex (see, e.g., [1, 3, 4, 2]) and therefore difficult to learn. Textbooks explain in detail how these algorithms work, but they usually do not explain w...