Bitcoin Cash And The Importance Of Cryptographic Signature Algorithms

Introduction

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is quickly gaining steam as the go-to cryptocurrency, primarily due to its lower transaction fees and faster transaction time than other major cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC). But there are more reasons why BCH is so popular. One of them, crucial to the task at hand, is cryptographic signature algorithms. One cannot underestimate the importance they have today, both in ordinary communication with any server and in securing and authenticating military secrets.

The Need for Encryption

Many people don’t realize just how important encryption is to our everyday lives. We rely on it to encrypt anything from credit card numbers to military secrets, to digital messages that we send through email or text. Just think: If you used cash instead of a credit card in person, would you feel comfortable letting your friend hold onto that cash until they pay you back? Maybe you wouldn’t be worried about them stealing it because they're your friend, but what if they lost it? Or what if someone stole it out of their purse? At any point during that process, there's a high probability that your cash could be stolen.

Public Key Cryptography

Public-key cryptography was a major step forward in information security because it allowed for secure communication over an insecure channel. Before public-key cryptography, encryption meant that both parties had to have access to one shared secret: a single key. It’s called a symmetric key because you use one key to encrypt (make unreadable) data, and another to decrypt (make readable) data. If you want two or more people communicating securely, they must share a secret key in advance—and then each person would use that same key when encrypting or decrypting messages sent between them. The downside is that anyone who obtains that shared secret can read encrypted messages.

The Mathematics of Signatures

To understand cryptographic signatures, let’s look at basic math. In a nutshell, cryptographic signatures use public key cryptography which is based on one-way functions. In other words, it’s not possible to reverse what has been done. This makes it extremely secure in a world where things can easily be faked, digitally speaking. For instance, here’s a simple function that we want to make irreversible

Symmetric-Key Encryption

The oldest form of cryptography, symmetric-key encryption is used when only one key (or code) is used both to encrypt and decrypt data. The security on most websites today is based on AES (Advanced Encryption Standard). In symmetric-key encryption, each user has a private key that they use to encrypt data that only they can decrypt. AES allows users to wrap their messages so that they cannot be intercepted by third parties. Symmetric keys are often used for individual files rather than for sending messages between people.