Encryption

Computers are essential tools in the modern world, handling everything from traffic control, car welding, movie animation, shipping, aircraft design, and social networking to book publishing, business management, music mixing, health care, agriculture, and online shopping. Computer programmers are the people who write the instructions that tell computers what to do. Read more

Cryptographers, also called cryptologists and cryptanalysts, develop the encryption algorithms that keep our modern online transactions, like emails and credit card purchases, safe from prying eyes. Even if information or a message is stolen, as long as it is encrypted, the person who stole it cannot read it! Cryptographers also work to test and break these algorithms, to check them for weaknesses and vulnerabilities. They even analyze and decipher codes used by terrorists and foreign… Read more

Have you ever seen a story on the news about how a company or government agency was "hacked" and people's personal information, like names, addresses, or credit card numbers, was stolen? It is an information security analyst's job to prevent that from happening. Organizations hire information security analysts to analyze possible threats against their computer systems, which can range from malicious hackers trying to steal data to careless employees who accidentally forget to log out of a… Read more