DEF CON 32 - GUR RIBYHGVBA BS PELCGBTENCUL - Jeff Man

I recently googled the meaning of “encryption” and found this definition on Wikipedia: “In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext.” Um…no, encoding produces code, enciphering produces ciphertext, encryption is more than just encoding, and so on. Given the jumbling together of historically very unique and significant terminology I set out to find the actual, historical definitions and try to find a way to teach and/or demonstrate the differences in the foundational forms of cryptography. But I quickly noticed that some of this terminology is so often mis-applied in our digital age that I wondered if maybe there has been an evolution of the meanings of these terms? I might not like it, but I’m open to that possibility. This very quickly led me to the conclusion that my research on this topic would make for an interesting talk and so here we are. I want to share the classical, historical forms of cryptography, discuss the etymology of the terminology, look at how the words apply today – and help the audience decide if the actual meanings even matter (or it’s just me). One important consideration is the tradeoff between keeping the data secret (security) and protecting the identity of individuals associated with the data (privacy). I hope you’ll join me in this journey to victory (or defeat) in the ongoing battle of preserving the classic goals and objectives of data security.