1900 BCE
Egyptian Hieroglyphic Ciphers
Non-standard hieroglyphs used in Egyptian tombs to obscure inscriptions, representing early cryptographic techniques. #cryptography #history
Chronological Storyline (45 Milestones)
1500 BCE
Mesopotamian Tablet Encryption
Cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia contain early examples of secret writing, including a formula for pottery glaze that was encrypted. #cryptography #ancient
500 BCE
Spartan Scytale
The scytale, a transposition cipher using a leather strip wound around a rod, used by ancient Greeks for military communication. #cryptography #Greece
By Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1698345
60 BCE
Julius Caesar Cipher
Roman statesman Julius Caesar used a simple substitution cipher shifting letters by three places for military correspondence. #cryptography #Rome
By Roy Zuo - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=147647748
800 CE
Al-Kindi and Frequency Analysis
Arab polymath Al-Kindi wrote 'A Manuscript on Deciphering Cryptographic Messages', introducing frequency analysis to break monoalphabetic ciphers. #cryptography #islamicgoldenage
By Iraqi Post - Personal collection, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=91832934
855 CE
Abu Bakr al-Razi's Cipher Work
Persian scholar Al-Razi contributed to cryptanalysis and described methods for encrypting medical texts. #cryptography #persia
By Hossein Behzad - http://sadmu.ir/detail/5999, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=161546923
1412 CE
Subh al-A'sha's Cryptographic Encyclopedia
Egyptian scholar Al-Qalqashandi's encyclopedia includes a chapter on cryptography, detailing substitution and transposition ciphers. #cryptography #egypt
1466 CE
Alberti Cipher Disk
Leon Battista Alberti invented the cipher disk, a polyalphabetic cipher, considered the first mechanical encryption device. #cryptography #renaissance
By Augusto Buonafalce - Converted from JPG at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alberti_cipher_disk.JPG, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=110919406
1518 CE
Trithemius' Steganographia
Johannes Trithemius wrote 'Steganographia', a work combining cryptography and steganography, influencing later cipher development. #cryptography #steganography
By Trithemius, Johannes. Steganographia. Frankfurt: Johannes Saurius?, 1606. Digitized photographic reproduction. - http://diglib.hab.de/drucke/fb-243/start.htm?image=00001, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63528432
1553 CE
Vigenère Cipher (Belaso's Invention)
Giovan Battista Bellaso described the first polyalphabetic cipher with a key, later misattributed to Vigenère. #cryptography #history
By Thomas de Leu - Woodcut Photograph. No date found., Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80100
1586 CE
Blaise de Vigenère's Treatise
Blaise de Vigenère published 'Traicté des chiffres', detailing the autokey cipher and strengthening polyalphabetic techniques. #cryptography #France
By Unknown author - File: Vigenere.jpg, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22661625
1641 CE
Wilkins' Mercury Cryptography
John Wilkins wrote 'Mercury, or the Secret and Swift Messenger', covering cryptographic methods and the first description of a codebook. #cryptography #England
By Attributed to John Greenhill - https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/john-wilkins-16141672-warden-16481659-223910, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52398144
1790 CE
Jefferson Disk Cipher
Thomas Jefferson invented the wheel cipher, a polyalphabetic cipher device using rotating disks, later used by the US Navy. #cryptography #USA
By Unknown author, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=258129
1835 CE
Morse Code
Samuel Morse invented Morse code, a telegraphic cipher using dots and dashes, enabling long-distance communication. #cryptography #technology
By Hp.Baumeler - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61723472
1854 CE
Babbage and Kasiski Break Vigenère
Charles Babbage and later Friedrich Kasiski independently developed methods to break the Vigenère cipher using repeated key patterns. #cryptanalysis #cryptography
1917 CE
Zimmermann Telegram
British cryptanalysts decrypted a German diplomatic telegram, bringing the US into World War I and highlighting the importance of cryptography. #cryptography #WWI
By Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27222069
1918 CE
Gilbert Vernam's One-Time Pad
Gilbert Vernam invented the one-time pad cipher, theoretically unbreakable if used correctly, based on XOR with random key. #cryptography #security
By US National Security Agency - https://www.governmentattic.org/18docs/Hist_US_COMSEC_Boak_NSA_1973u.pdf A History of U.S. Communications Security; the David G. Boak Lectures, National Security Agency (NSA), Volumes I, 1973, Volumes II 1981, partially released 2008, additional portions declassified October 14, 2015, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45783652
1926 CE
Enigma Machine Commercial Version
German inventor Arthur Scherbius introduced the Enigma machine for commercial use, later adapted by the German military. #cryptography #WWII
By Alessandro Nassiri - Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia "Leonardo da Vinci", CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47910919
1931 CE
Japanese PURPLE Cipher
Japan developed the PURPLE cipher machine for diplomatic communications; US cryptanalysts broke it before WWII. #cryptography #WWII
By Daderot - Cropped and rotated from File:PURPLE analog, improved version of March 1944 - National Cryptologic Museum - DSC07831.JPG and said improvements released under CC0 by--agr (talk) 00:10, 25 April 2019 (UTC), Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78321046
1932 CE
Marian Rejewski Breaks Enigma
Polish mathematician Marian Rejewski used permutation theory to reconstruct the Enigma rotor wiring, enabling early decryption. #cryptography #Poland
By Unknown author - Rejewski's daughter's private archive, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=216461
1941 CE
Navajo Code Talkers
US Marine Corps used Navajo language as an unbreakable code in the Pacific theater, a form of cryptology. #cryptography #WWII
By Unknown author - https://www.choctawnation.com/history-culture/people/code-talkers, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79650510
1949 CE
Shannon's Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems
Claude Shannon published a foundational paper unifying cryptography and information theory, defining perfect secrecy. #cryptography #informationtheory
1952 CE
NSA Founded
The US National Security Agency (NSA) was established to centralize signals intelligence and protect government communications. #cryptography #security
By U.S. government - www.nsa.gov http://quicksearch.dla.mil/qsDocDetails.aspx?ident_number=275845, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2976322
1970 CE
IBM's Feistel Cipher (Lucifer)
IBM cryptographer Horst Feistel developed the Feistel network structure, leading to the Lucifer cipher and later DES. #cryptography #technology
By Feistel_cipher_diagram.svg: Amirki derivative work: Amirki (talk) - Feistel_cipher_diagram.svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16419258
1976 CE
Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange
Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman published the concept of public-key cryptography, enabling secure key exchange over insecure channels. #cryptography #publickey
By Epachamo - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=142206661
1977 CE
RSA Algorithm Published
Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman invented the RSA cryptosystem based on the difficulty of factoring large primes. #cryptography #RSA )
1977 CE
Data Encryption Standard (DES)
DES became the US federal standard for symmetric encryption, based on the Feistel structure with a 56-bit key. #cryptography #standard
By Hellisp - File:Data Encryption Standard InfoBox Diagram.png, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33316542
1984 CE
ElGamal Encryption
Taher ElGamal published a public-key cryptosystem based on the Diffie-Hellman key exchange, used in many protocols. #cryptography #publickey
1984 CE
Blum Blum Shub PRNG
L. Blum, M. Blum, and M. Shub proposed a pseudorandom number generator based on quadratic residues and factorization hardness. #cryptography #numbertheory
1987 CE
MD5 Hash Function Developed
Ronald Rivest designed MD5, a widely used cryptographic hash function producing a 128-bit hash. #cryptography #hashing
1990 CE
Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) Proposed
Neal Koblitz and Victor Miller independently proposed using elliptic curves for public-key cryptography, offering smaller key sizes. #cryptography #ECC
1991 CE
Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) Released
Phil Zimmermann released PGP, a public-key encryption program for email, sparking debates over privacy and government control. #cryptography #privacy
1992 CE
U.S. Clipper Chip Proposal
The US government proposed the Clipper chip with key escrow for secure communications, facing public criticism over backdoors. #cryptography #policy
By Travis Goodspeed - MYK-78 Package Markings, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26694403
1993 CE
SHA-0 Hash Function Draft
NIST published the Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA-0), later revised to SHA-1 after flaws were found. #cryptography #hashing
1997 CE
AES Competition Announced
NIST announced the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) competition to replace DES, resulting in Rijndael as the winner. #cryptography #standard
By John Savard - https://www.eng.tau.ac.il/~yash/crypto-netsec/rijndael.htm, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=103718081
1999 CE
Distributed.net Breaks DES in 22 Hours
Using distributed computing, DES was brute-forced in record time, demonstrating the weakness of 56-bit keys. #cryptography #cryptanalysis
2000 CE
Rijndael Selected as AES
NIST selected the Rijndael cipher, designed by Joan Daemen and Vincent Rijmen, as the Advanced Encryption Standard. #cryptography #AES
2001 CE
Cryptographic Backdoor Debates Post-9/11
After 9/11, governments pushed for lawful access to encryption, intensifying debates over privacy and security. #cryptography #policy
2007 CE
Keith B. F. and the Hash Function SHA-3 Competition
NIST launched a competition for a new hash function, leading to Keccak being selected as SHA-3 in 2012. #cryptography #hashing
2009 CE
Bitcoin and Blockchain Cryptography
Satoshi Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin, using cryptographic hash functions and public-key cryptography for a decentralized digital currency. #cryptography #blockchain
By Grayliptrot - This file was derived from: Bitcoin logo.svg, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30202095
2013 CE
Edward Snowden Leaks and Encryption
Snowden revealed global surveillance programs, leading to increased adoption of end-to-end encryption in messaging apps. #cryptography #privacy
By https://www.youtube.com/user/TheWikiLeaksChannel - Derived from: File:Edward Snowden speaks about government transparency at Sam Adams award presentation in Moscow.webm @20s, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28971285
2016 CE
Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization
NIST initiated a process to standardize quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms due to the threat of quantum computers. #cryptography #quantum
2017 CE
SHA-1 Collision Attack (SHAttered)
Google and CWI Amsterdam demonstrated the first practical collision attack on SHA-1, prompting deprecation. #cryptography #cryptanalysis
2019 CE
China's SM3 and SM4 Cryptographic Standards
China promoted its national cryptographic standards, including SM3 hash and SM4 block cipher, for domestic use and global influence. #cryptography #China )
2022 CE
NIST Selects Finalists for Post-Quantum Cryptography
NIST announced four algorithms for standardization, including CRYSTALS-Kyber for encryption and CRYSTALS-Dilithium for signatures. #cryptography #postquantum