Everything you always wanted to know about cryptography but were afraid to ask (hackerhotel2024)

What is this DES and why is it bad? Should I always use AES-256, bigger is better right? Who are these RSA-dudes in the first place and why do I need 25519 elliptic curves in my life? Is quantum really that bad for encryption and what can I do about it? If these are questions keeping you up at 05:00, then this talk might be for you! Cryptography is not only essential in our modern-day lives, but it has been for thousands of years. After some historical context, we will dive into some modern ciphers like DES, AES, RSA and ECC. I will show you how they work (using simple to understand high-school math and pretty pictures) and how to use them. We will then see how quantum computers are bad for cryptography and show techniques that can counter that. The slides are in English, the spoken language can be English or Dutch (depending on the audience). Pre-talk disclaimer: the provided explanations are very high-level and leave out details that make the ciphers actually secure. **DO NOT USE THEM IN YOUR PROJECTS!** about this event: https://pretalx.hackerhotel.nl/hackerhotel-2024/talk/B7BL3K/