How Does The Science of Codes: An Intro to Cryptography Work?

Cryptography is like having a secret language that only you and your best friend can understand, even if someone else listens in.

Imagine you and your friend want to send messages to each other, but the teacher might read them. So you both agree on a code, maybe every time you say "apple," it really means "hello." The teacher sees "apple," but doesn't know what it stands for. That's encryption.

When you write your message, you use your special code to change the words into something else, this is like putting on a cloak of secrecy. Now the message looks like nonsense to anyone who reads it.

Your friend gets the messy message and uses their code to turn it back into real words, that's decryption.

It’s like when you write your name in invisible ink, and only your friend knows how to make it appear again. They both have a special key, kind of like a magical password, to lock or unlock the message.

If someone else wants to read your secret messages without permission, they need to guess the code or find the key, just like trying to figure out what "apple" really means when you only know it stands for something fun!