Ranked 58th
Department of Big Data (BDA) students of AIMIT attended an online session on ‘Introduction to cyber security through cryptography, organised by TCS in collaboration with ISI Kolkata on May 7. The lecture was delivered by Prof. Subhamoy Maitra, Department of Applied Statistics, ISI, Kolkata.
The session commenced with a brief introduction and the broad meaning of cryptology which encompasses the vast field of cryptography and cryptanalysis. Cryptography is the process of converting an understandable message into a complex code. This code can only be unlocked into the original text using the suitable algorithm which derives the concept of cryptoanalysis.
The background requirements for taking up a good career in this field were enumerated by the resource person. A strong background in the fields of mathematics, computer science and a good approach in electronics, telecommunications, and physics is the core elementary requirements to gain knowledge in this field of study, Prof. Mitra said. There were assignments given by the resource person to the students so that they gain some knowledge on cryptology. The students were told to install Linux OS on their systems for a better understanding of the concepts. Different movies like The Da Vinci Code and The Imitation Game, which are based on the theories of cryptography were referred to by Prof. Maitra.
After that, the vast practical implementation of cybersecurity and cryptography in various scenarios like net-banking, different modes of communications, cryptocurrency, etc. were discussed.
A brief discussion of different key-based cryptosystems was done by explaining their functionalities and working. Stream and Block cipher, which are broad classifications of symmetric-key cryptosystems were presented along with their perspectives in the modern world.
The great motto of Cryptology: ‘Security should not be based on obscurity’ was explained, followed by different layers in the field of cryptography.
Prof. Maitra opened the conversation to the students for questions. A question regarding his stand on the current scenarios of cryptocurrency was well answered by him, telling students to do a self-research on the different cryptocurrencies and their futures in the world market. He concluded the session by saying “we cannot have security without cryptology”.
