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#17 What Is Encryption?
Episode 17

#17 What Is Encryption?

Our online world couldn't exist without it.

Kopec Explains Software · David Kopec, Rebecca Kopec

October 5, 202025m 1s

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Show Notes

Encryption enables online payment, secure communication, identity verification, and so much more. In this episode we discuss what encryption is, what it does for us, and we go over some of the different types of encryption. We explain the purpose of a key, and try to provide an intuitive understanding of public key cryptography. We also discuss some practical tips around passwords. Finally, we talk about some of the public policy debates surrounding encryption.

Note that in this episode we refer to cryptographic hash functions as "one-way encryption" to try to simplify the discussion.

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