Cryptography: Security for the Digital Age

The Interview - Crypto ·
Featuring Yehuda Lindell and Ash Bennington

Published on: February 1st, 2021 • Duration: 49 minutes

Yehuda Lindell, co-founder and CEO of Unbound Tech, joins Ash Bennington, Real Vision senior editor, to discuss the growing need for cryptography, its use in Bitcoin, and the various ways it protects modern digital infrastructure. Lindell explains the importance of asymmetric key cryptography, separating keys into a public key and a private key, that has been integrated into much of the security on the web today. The separation of a public and a private key enabled Bitcoin to work as the network utilizes a public facing address for users to share and receive coins as well as a private key to allow those users to access those coins. Lindell explains that the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi, was able to combine existing elements of cryptography, including Proof of work and Asymmetric keys, to produce a novel and secure way to transfer value across the internet. He believes that as society continues to go digital, the need for cryptographic security will only grow. Filmed on January 19, 2021.

Key Learnings: Cryptography is crucial to many aspects of the web as it exists today, including e-commerce, identity, and other credentialed access points such as social media. Cryptography will play an increasingly important role as more aspects of our lives become digital. Combining several pre-existing types of cryptography is what enabled the rapid proliferation of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.