<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"">Cryptographyis the science of writing in secret code and is an ancient art; the firstdocumented use of cryptography in writing dates back to circa 1900 B.C. when anEgyptian scribe used non-standard hieroglyphs in an inscription. Some expertsargue that cryptography appeared spontaneously sometime after writing wasinvented, with applications ranging from diplomatic missives to war-time battleplans. It is no surprise, then, that new forms of cryptography came soon afterthe widespread development of computer communications. In data andtelecommunications, cryptography is necessary when communicating over anyuntrusted medium, which includes just about any network, particularly the Internet