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Cryptography and the Issue of Internet Security Essay examples

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High level encryption or cryptography is used in a number of applications ranging from those which impact national security to those which are more mundane. Essentially, cryptography is the methodology of encoding information so that one’s privacy is ensured. This is particularly important when it comes to transactions which occur over the Internet. The risk of individuals gaining access to personal information or information which is critical to a country or a nation over the Internet is a very real one. The practice of cryptography lessens the likelihood of this happening.

Part A -- Identification and Description of the Issue
A greater and greater percentage of the world population is gaining access to the Internet and incorporating …show more content…

We transmit and receive a massive amount of information through the Internet which by its very nature is insecure and wild and free.
Some information we transmit and receive through the Internet is trivial, other is critical from either a personal, business or national perspective. Without some form of encryption this information could not only fall into the wrong hands but it could also be read and manipulated by those who intercepted it. This, according to the type of information, could be disastrous from either a personal, business, or national perspective. It could be presumed that intellectual property which currently belongs to its Creator would be freely disseminated around the globe with no practical way to control who saw it or how they utilized it (anonymous, http://www.cs.brown.edu/).

Part D-- Proposed Solutions
There are two possible solutions to the security of data on the Internet. These are TCP/IP and Cryptography. TCP/IP sessions can be captured, however, by unauthorized personnel using devises such as IP packet sniffers (Computer Reseller News PG). Cryptography, on the other hand, provides a single technology which has the potential to address all of the above criteria to ensure safe Internet transactions.
The software provided by Hewlett Packard, VerSecure, offers an excellent and economical solution to the problem of data security on the Internet (M2 Press

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