Widnes SciBar @ the Hillcrest Hotel

Cryptography

Hillcrest Hotel, Cronton Lane
Widnes, WA8 9AR
7.30 pm, Wed 9th May 2018

by Alan Daglish

Practically every day of our modern lives we use some form of cryptography. On-line banking and shopping, email, ATMs, booking holidays
etc, etc. Mostly it is invisible to us but it is in fact the product of nearly three thousand years of development.

Since the invention of writing there has been a need to prevent information being read. Wherever encryption was employed to protect communications there always existed a group of people whose aim was to defeat it. By the renaissance there was an arms race between the encrypters and the decrypters culminating in a cypher developed in the 16th century that was only broken in the 19th century.

The second world war saw the mechanisation of cryptography culminating in the development of the first programmable computer for decryption.  The computer age resulted in severe problems for cryptographers until, in the seventies a scheme was developed that would take the age of the universe  to crack. This is about where we are now but with quantum computers on the horizon who knows?

In addition some consideration will be given to the need for personal cryptography in the form of passwords together with some practical advice.

Presented by the Friends of Catalyst and Catalyst Science Discovery Centre

SciBar – Talking science in a relaxed setting
What is it? – A scientist talks about their research and then you can discuss it and ask questions
Where is it? – Hillcrest Hotel, Cronton Lane, Widnes WA8 9AR
Who is it for? – Widnes SciBar is for anyone with an interest in science, or a wish to know more about science