Introduction

War. Possibly the original and definitely the most powerful motivation behind keeping information secure; it was during and between battling nations that secrets were considered priceless. From tattoos on the scalp in Roman times to that certain speech on the radios of the Resistance in France during World War II, the ability fo one to communicate to another without the source, message, or destination being exposed to the enemy has been the difference between victory and defeat. An interesting tactic once used by the British in World War II was to purposefully crash a plane with a supposed messenger that eventually led to causing incorrect information, believed to be real, to their enemies. Just because a messenger arrives doesn't mean the message or the messenger are real.

With all things, time dictates change. Currently, we use several basic mathematical processes to ensure information security. I say "basic," and not "simple," because for nonmathematical folk, cryptography and number theory are generally something to run away from, not something exciting and becoming. Cryptography is a requirement in security, and is a troublesome hurdle for a company to implement by itself. Understanding that these technologies must be developed and proven effective is often ignored.

This section is important to understanding the information-based security flaw that are seen in all subsequent software and hardware devices. Cryptography is used in many ways, but the most basic are proving an identity or authenticating and keeping data that is in transit via insecure mechanisms safe.