Skip to main content

Cryptography Courses

Take free online cryptography courses and learn about the business benefits and use cases of secure communication in the presence of adversaries.

Hundreds of great courses at your fingertips

Learn on the go with the new edX mobile app. You can stream or download course videos and watch directly from your iPhone or Android device.

What Is Cryptography?

Until the advent of computers, cryptography was a discipline that dealt with encryption. Now, cryptography is primarily concerned with security within computer systems. Encryption methods have gotten more complex, and the field is a critical part of huge portions of the tech industry. Modern cryptography lies at the intersection of mathematics and computer science. You find modern cryptography in things you use every day, including chip-based payment cards and computer passwords. The field is much bigger, however. With blockchain changing how we approach traditional systems like finance and deep learning accessing mind-boggling amounts of data, encryption for privacy is at the forefront. You may have written secret codes in the past, but it's time to apply that basic principle to the theory of everything.

What Do Cryptographers Do?

Cryptographers use encryption methods to seal private data and protect personal autonomy. Privacy is no longer the ability to remain hidden. Instead, retaining agency over your data is the benchmark. Cryptographers create systems that protect your data and allow you to move safely through cyberspace. Cryptographic algorithms verify your identity and then protect it even as you interact with millions of bits of data, and that data is collected. It's a key component of cybersecurity. Encryption algorithms allow a user to purchase something online without giving away their sensitive information. It will enable companies to provide network security to clients. Everyone from your neighbor to the US government is at the mercy of quality encryption methods.

Learn Cryptography

Ciphers aren't the same as those mystery novels you read as a kid, but they have evolved from those simple methods. Mastering foundations like symmetric-key cryptography, stream ciphers, sha-1 hash algorithms, public-key cryptography, and block ciphers help you build the next generation of data security. Big data is transforming business and organizational operations, but maintaining data integrity is crucial to providing deep learning frameworks quality data that can produce results. There's even an entire subsection of the US Chamber of Commerce, NIST, with labor dedicated to cybersecurity.

Cryptography Courses

Blockchain is arguably the most prominent section of cybersecurity at the moment, and the Linux Foundation has a course in Blockchain uses and implications. IT will discuss encryption methods inherent in the public ledger model of blockchain and how to maintain the integrity of the ledger. For example, Bitcoin, arguably the most famous case of blockchain operates on hash functions for security. CalTech and Delft Univerity of Technology have a course in Quantum Cryptography to build foundational skills in the newest area of cybersecurity. You'll understand quantum protocols including key management distribution and how to test for secure communication in unsecured channels. These encryption keys open cybersecurity to solutions previously unavailable with classical models. Data encryption is the forefront of cyberspace. Businesses and organizations need digital signature authentication and message authentication to validate data, and customer-facing applications must use modes of operation that protect sensitive information. And with the US government employing advanced encryption standards to our most sensitive data on the federal level, now is the time to jump on modern cryptography.