Why Information Security?

Introducing information security

We’ll begin by exploring the role of cryptography in securing information. We use the term information security in a generic sense to mean protecting information and information systems. This is also commonly referred to as cyber security. Information security involves the use of many different types of security technologies and management processes and controls. It is precisely cryptography that provides the techniques that underpin most information security technologies.

The rising profile of information security

Even as recently as the end of the last century, cryptography was a topic only specialists and a small group of interested users knew. The same probably also applies to the much broader discipline of information security. So, what has changed?

Information is not a new concept and has always been of value. Society has always dealt with information that has needed some protection and has always used processes to safeguard that information. There’s nothing new about the need for information security.

Likewise, cryptography isn’t a new science, although some would say that it has only recently been formally treated as such. It has been used for centuries to protect sensitive information, especially during periods of conflict.

However, information security is now a subject with a relatively high profile. Most people use information security mechanisms daily. Incidents of information security breaches are widely reported in the media. The reason for this increased profile has been the development of computer networks, particularly the Internet.

This development hasn’t necessarily increased the amount of information globally, but data is now easier to generate, access, exchange, and store. Lower communication and storage costs have increased connectivity, and higher processing speeds have encouraged the automation of business processes. As a result, more and more applications and services are conducted electronically. Since all this electronic data has the potential to be transmitted and stored in relatively insecure environments, the need for information security has become paramount.

The rising significance of information security has increased the importance and widespread use of cryptography. As we’ll see, cryptography lies at the heart of most technical information security mechanisms. As a result, cryptography has become something most people use in everyday applications. Once primarily the domain of government and the military, cryptography is now deployed on devices that almost every consumer of technology carries in their pocket.