One of the skillful usages of prime number theory🐱
Prime number theory is one of the few areas of pure mathematics that has found a direct application in the real world, namely in cryptography. Cryptography involves scrambling secret messages so that they can only be unscrambled by the reciever and not by anybody else who might intercept them. The scrambling process requires the use of a secret key, and traditionally unscrambling the messages simply requires the receiver to apply the key in reverse. With this procedure the key is the weakest link in the chain of security.
First, the receiver and the sender must agree on the details of the key and the exchange of this information is a risky process. If the enemy can intercept the key being exchanged, then they can scramble all subsequent messages.
Second, the keys must be regularly changed in order to maintain security, and each time this happens there is a risk of the new key being intercepted.
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