The Importance and History of Encryption for Building Trust on the Internet

Encryption is crucial for building trust on the internet by ensuring the security of private information and preventing interception of online interactions. The history of encryption dates back to the increasing relevance of electronic communications and the need for secure financial transactions. Marty Hellman, a cryptography professor at Stanford University, embarked on a mission to bring digital encryption to the public and commercial use, despite the dominance of government-controlled encryption at that time. He sought to reinvent encryption in order to make it available for commercial use and assembled a team to achieve this goal.