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Question

Cryptology splits into two complementary disciplines — what are they, and what does each one do?

Answer

Cryptography builds the protection (encryption); cryptanalysis tries to break it (extracting information from ciphertext).

Kryptologie (cryptology) is the umbrella term, divided into:

Discipline Goal
Kryptografie (cryptography) Verschlüsselung — encrypting/protecting information
Kryptoanalyse (cryptanalysis) Informationsgewinn — recovering information from encrypted data

The two are in a permanent arms race: cryptographers design schemes, cryptanalysts attack them, and schemes that survive sustained cryptanalysis are the ones we trust.

Tip: "-grafie" = writing (building secrets), "-analyse" = breaking (taking them apart). Both together = cryptology.

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