TABLE OF CONTENTS The primary goal of cryptography is to provide two people, usually called Alice and Bob, with a way to exchange secret messages, messages where no adversary, usually called Eve, can obtain any significant knowledge about their true meaning.
In this chapter, we review some important concepts of cryptography, which will be needed in the remaining chapters.
This chapter is divided in three main parts. First, we introduce basic concepts of cryptography, such as the definitions of symmetric/asymmetric encryption, and adversarial models. Then, in the second part, we introduce the basic ideas and techniques behind symmetric encryption schemes. In the third part, we concentrate on asymmetric encryption and digital signatures.
