How do you advance your career as a cryptography engineer?
Here are two easy ways to level-up in cryptography.
Although a lot of cryptography work is already done in the domain, without doing a literature review of what is already done, one can’t go any further.
Firstly, you want to make sure you know the fundamentals:
- What’s the history of cryptography?
- What is the goal of cryptography?
- What are the challenges of cryptography?
- Do you understand the main types of cryptographic systems?
- Do you understand the Mathematical foundations of cryptography?
Main Types of Cryptographic Systems
Symmetric; Symmetric cryptography involves using a single key to both encrypt and decrypt data. This means that the same key is used by both the sender and the receiver to secure their communication.
Symmetric cryptography is often faster and more efficient than asymmetric cryptography.
Asymmetric; Asymmetric cryptography, also known as public-key cryptography, involves the use of a pair of a single key and a public key. Unlike symmetric cryptography, where the same key is used in both encryption and decryption, in asymmetric cryptography, these keys have different purposes.
Asymmetric cryptography provides several advantages over symmetric cryptography, including secure key exchange and digital signatures.
Hybrid; Hybrid cryptography combines the strengths of both symmetric and asymmetric cryptography to achieve a more secure and efficient encryption system. It addresses the key management challenges of symmetric cryptography while leveraging the computational efficiency of symmetric encryption and the security benefits of asymmetric encryption.
Which cryptography system would you suggest is best?
Mathematical Foundations of Cryptography
Number Theory; Number theory is a branch of mathematics that deals with the properties and relationships of integers, particularly focusing on patterns, structure, and properties of numbers.
Algebra; Algebra provides the mathematical foundation for understanding cryptographic algorithms and protocols. By leveraging algebraic structures and techniques, cryptographers can develop secure and efficient cryptographic systems that protect sensitive information.
Probability; Probability is a branch of mathematics that deals with the likelihood of events occurring. It provides a framework for quantifying uncertainty and making predictions based on the available information. In cryptography it is used to analyse data and inform decision-making in uncertain situations.
Do these mathematical foundations inform your thinking and decision making on a day to day basis without you realising?
Would it be beneficial in helping you solve real-world problems if you had a deeper understanding of them?
Theory alone isn’t sufficient. Practicing your skills in cryptography is essential for mastering the field.
Secondly, you need to practice your skills outside of your day-to-day.
- Can you apply theory to a variety of real world problems?
- Can you break classic ciphers?
- Can you break modern encryption schemes?
- Can you confidently use frequency analysis, brute-force attacks and chosen-plaintext attacks to do so?
- Can you code cryptographic algorithms from scratch?
How can you practice your skills?
1. Participating in online platforms, competitions and events that offer challenges and puzzles for users to solve will help to improve your logical thinking, problem solving and coding skills. Try the below:
2. Contributing to open-source projects and libraries will help you to experiment with different cryptographic algorithms and protocols. Try the below:
At Adapt Talent, Noah is our Blockchain and Cryptography specialist if you want to know how to progress your Cryptography career, he is always happy to have a chat and he can advise what your next step should look like based on his excellent market knowledge.
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