Cryptology, the study of cryptosystems, can be subdivided into two branches −
- Cryptography
- Cryptanalysis
What is Cryptography?
Cryptography is the art and science of making a cryptosystem that is capable of providing information security.
Cryptography deals with the actual securing of digital data. It refers to the design of mechanisms based on mathematical algorithms that provide fundamental information security services. You can think of cryptography as the establishment of a large toolkit containing different techniques in security applications.
What is Cryptanalysis?
The art and science of breaking the cipher text is known as cryptanalysis.
Cryptanalysis is the sister branch of cryptography and they both co-exist. The cryptographic process results in the cipher text for transmission or storage. It involves the study of cryptographic mechanism with the intention to break them. Cryptanalysis is also used during the design of the new cryptographic techniques to test their security strengths.
Note − Cryptography concerns with the design of cryptosystems, while cryptanalysis studies the breaking of cryptosystems.