1: One-Time Pad and Kerckhoffs' Principle
- Page ID
- 7319
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You can’t learn about cryptography without meeting Alice, Bob, and Eve. This chapter is about the classic problem of private communication, in which Alice has a message that she wants to convey to Bob, while also keeping the contents of the message hidden from an eavesdropper \({ }^{1}\) Eve. You’ll soon learn that there is more to cryptography than just private communication, but it is the logical place to start.
\({ }^{1}\) "Eavesdropper" refers to someone who secretly listens in on a conversation between others. The term originated as a reference to someone who literally hung from the eaves of a building in order to hear conversations happening inside.