I can honestly say that going into this class I had very little knowledge of what cryptology is or its implications. I had most likely heard the word in passing but never fully tried to comprehend the true meaning. The first chapter of Singh was to say the least an eye opener. I was shocked by the widespread use and history of codes and ciphers. The chapter expanded on the history of ciphers in various societies and cultures. The main example of the first chapter is Mary Queen of Scots and her cipher mishap. This situation displays the risks of ciphers. As discussed in class, sometimes a weak cipher can be worse than no cipher at all. The reasoning behind this is the false sense of security that a cipher can give the sender and recipient. Mary Queen of Scots also made the mistake of trusting someone else to deliver and keep the secrets safe. As the saying goes, “loose lips sink the ship.” Well in Mary Queen of Scots case deception, ciphers, and double agents sank that ship. The discussion in class led me to realize that Mary had no other option than to trust that her correspondences were honest since she had very limited resources. This ties into another topic that we discussed about the impact that resources has in ciphers. In Mary’s case, the limited option of resources and possible ways of communication forced her to relay on her a double agent. She had no way to change the cipher or strengthen it without him knowing so she was sort of doomed. If she was more vague and a little less trusting in the strength of the cipher she could have saved herself but that did not happen. The discussion in class aided me in seeing the scope of ciphers along with the potential drawbacks of them.
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