Cybersecurity

Hey Africoders! This semester, my study group and I explored the intricacies of cryptography, focusing on cipher blocks – the building blocks of many encryption algorithms. I’m excited to share some insights we gained! Cipher Blocks: Segmenting Data for Secure Transmission At its core, a cipher block is a deterministic algorithm that processes fixed-length groups of bits, known as plaintext blocks. Imagine you have a large text file to encrypt; a cipher block divides this file into chunks of a specific size, akin to how a computer program segments a large array into smaller sub-arrays for effi...

What’s up Africoders! In the ever-growing digital landscape of Africa, where innovation is booming, securing our information is paramount. Today, Let’s look into the fascinating world of cryptography, a branch of computer science dedicated to keeping your data under lock and key. Imagine whispering a secret message to a friend, but instead of words, you use a complex mathematical formula. That’s kind of what cryptography does! It scrambles data using algorithms, making it unreadable to anyone without the proper key. This is crucial for protecting the sensitive information that flows through ou...

Have you ever wondered how websites store all your information? From login credentials to shopping preferences, a vast amount of data is kept behind the scenes. This data is typically housed in large databases, and websites use a special language called SQL (Structured Query Language) to interact with them. Unfortunately, malicious actors can exploit weaknesses in how websites handle SQL to gain unauthorized access to this data – this is known as SQL Injection (SQLi). What is SQL Injection? Imagine a website that allows you to log in with your username and password. The website would typically...

The year is 2000. The internet is still young, dial-up connections dominate, and email is the primary mode of communication. Then, love blooms (or should we say, malware blooms) in the form of the infamous “ILOVEYOU” virus, also known as the Love Bug or Loveletter. This seemingly innocent email worm, disguised as a love letter with the attachment “LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs,” wreaked havoc on millions of computers worldwide. Let’s delve into the history of this cyberattack and explore its lasting impact. A Love Letter with a Bite The ILOVEYOU virus originated in the Philippines, created by a ...