Encryption and Hacking
Jan H. Samoriski · 2020
In recent years, the online environment has been threatened by an ongoing series of data breaches and hacks that are eroding confidence in the internet as a safe and secure platform for communication. Beginning with the early computer networks from which the World Wide Web evolved and continuing into the modern era of social networks, the ability to protect data and safeguard messages from being stolen or intercepted has long been essential for interacting in a digital age. Technically complex, constantly evolving, yet transparent to users, software, source code and computer algorithms can be endlessly configured to keep and expose secrets and data. The use of encryption to protect communication and the tools and techniques hackers use to manipulate the networks and servers through which content travels and is stored represent one of the most challenging endeavors of modern times. This chapter explores the related areas of encryption and hacking, what they are, how they work and the role they play in both facilitating and frustrating communication in a variety of ways.