some essential definitions some essential definitions in the field of cryptography are: - cryptoanalysis - cryptology - ciphers "Few false ideas have more firmly gripped the minds of so many intelligent men than the one that, if they just tried, they could invent a cipher that no one could break." (David Kahn) codes plaintext ciphertext to encipher/encode to decipher/decode The variants of encryption systems are endless. For deciphering there exists always the same game of trial and error (first guessing the encryption method, then the code). A help to do so is pruning. Once, after a more or less long or short period a code/cipher breaks. Monoalphabetic ciphers can be broken easily and of course are no longer used today but for games. for further information on codes and ciphers etc. see: http://www.optonline.com/comptons/ceo/01004A.html http://www.ridex.co.uk/cryptology/#_Toc439908851

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Late 1960s - Early 1970s: Third Generation Computers One of the most important advances in the development of computer hardware in the late 1960s and early 1970s was the invention of the integrated circuit, a solid-state device containing hundreds of transistors, diodes, and resistors on a tiny silicon chip. It made possible the production of large-scale computers (mainframes) of higher operating speeds, capacity, and reliability at significantly lower costs. Another type of computer developed at the time was the minicomputer. It profited from the progresses in microelectronics and was considerably smaller than the standard mainframe, but, for instance, powerful enough to control the instruments of an entire scientific laboratory. Furthermore operating systems, that allowed machines to run many different programs at once with a central program that monitored and coordinated the computer's memory, attained widespread use.

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cryptoanalysis the study of breaking others' codes to transform a message back into a legible form without knowing the key from the beginning

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Central processing unit A CPU is the principal part of any digital computer system, generally composed of the main memory, control unit, and arithmetic-logic unit. It constitutes the physical heart of the entire computer system; to it is linked various peripheral equipment, including input/output devices and auxiliary storage units...

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