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Quiz Entry - updated: 2026.07.14

How does the "old art" view of cryptography compare to the "new science" view?

Old cryptography was about secrecy with heuristic security; modern cryptography is a broad science with formal proofs and public-key systems.

Prof. U. Maurer (ETH Zurich) contrasts these two paradigms:

Aspect Old Art New Science
Scope Secrecy Wide range of applications
Method Encryption only Cryptographic protocols
Keys Bilateral secret keys Public keys
Users Military applications Core technology within IT
Security Heuristic (intuitive) security Definitions and (some) proofs
Reliability Often broken Often appears unbreakable

Additional modern concerns beyond this comparison:

  • Key size → Secure implementation
  • Brute force attacks → Time-memory attacks / side channel attacks
  • Moore's Law → Quantum computing threat

Tip: This shift happened roughly in the 1970s — the transition from "secret military art" to "open academic science" is what made modern digital security possible.

From Quiz: KRYPTOG / Introduction to Cryptology | Updated: Jul 14, 2026