Path 06: Cryptography Fundamentals — KashSec Academy

Crypto concepts get used everywhere in this course — this path teaches them from zero: encoding vs encryption vs hashing, AES, RSA, certificates, and the mistakes that keep breaking real systems. 14 free lessons, beginner level, starting with "What is cryptography?"

Level: Beginner · 14 lessons · Free, no account needed.

Lessons in this path

  1. What is cryptography? — Encoding vs. encryption vs. hashing — the distinction that unlocks everything else.
  2. Symmetric Encryption — One shared key, AES, and why ECB mode is a classic mistake.
  3. Asymmetric Encryption — Public/private keys, RSA, hybrid encryption, and digital signatures.
  4. Key Exchange & Diffie-Hellman — How two strangers agree on a shared secret over a channel an attacker is watching.
  5. Elliptic Curve Cryptography — The other hard math problem behind modern crypto, and why smaller keys win.
  6. Hashing Explained — SHA-256, why passwords need bcrypt not SHA-256, and salting.
  7. Digital Signatures & Certificates — How the padlock icon actually works, and what it doesn't promise.
  8. The TLS Handshake, Step by Step — How every earlier lesson in this path assembles into the padlock icon.
  9. Common Cryptographic Attacks — Padding oracle, replay, downgrade, and side-channel attacks, named and explained.
  10. Common Crypto Mistakes — Seven recurring real-world failure patterns, gathered in one place.
  11. Applied Cryptography: Choosing and Using It Correctly — Libraries over primitives, key management, and a practical decision guide.
  12. Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Cryptography — Hash chains, wallets, and signatures — this path's concepts in a real-world system.
  13. Post-Quantum Cryptography — Shor's algorithm, harvest-now-decrypt-later, and why NIST already standardized the fix.
  14. Crypto Hands-On Lab — CyberChef and OpenSSL — encode, encrypt, hash, and inspect real certificates.