Cryptography Essentials - A Practical Approach to Real-World Digital Security

Learn the fundamental concepts of cryptography through a practical approach that builds the foundation needed to understand modern security protocols like SSL, TLS, IPsec, and SSH. Explore essential cryptographic building blocks including hashing algorithms (MD5, SHA1, SHA256, SHA2, SHA3), symmetric encryption methods (AES, ChaCha20, 3DES, RC4, DES), and message authentication codes (MAC/HMAC). Master the principles of symmetric and asymmetric cryptography, understanding how secret keys work and how pseudo-random functions transform secrets into infinite keys. Dive into RSA and asymmetric encryption, digital signatures including RSA and DSA signatures, and key exchange mechanisms that provide forward secrecy. Discover how RSA key exchange and Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocols work, and get introduced to elliptic curve cryptography concepts that underpin modern digital security systems.

Syllabus

Cryptography Essentials - Series Intro
Hashing and Hashing Algorithms - md5 sha1 sha256 sha2 sha3 - Cryptography Essentials
Understanding Secret Keys: A Simple Explanation
Symmetric Cryptography is a category
Symmetric Encryption - AES ChaCha20 3DES RC4 DES - Cryptography Essentials
MAC / HMAC - Message Authentication Code / Hash Bashed Message Authentication Codes
PRFs explained: Transforming Secrets into Infinite Keys - Pseudo Random Functions
A better definition of Asymmetric Cryptography
RSA & Asymmetric Encryption - Cryptography Essentials
Signatures - What and why are they?
RSA Signatures
DSA Signatures
You can't do security without THIS
RSA Key Exchange and Forward Secrecy - Cryptography Essentials
Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange and Forward Secrecy
Elliptic Curve Cryptography in less than 5 minutes