How hashing and cryptography made the internet possible

A lot of technologies, business choices, and public policies gave us the internet we have today—a tremendous boost to the spread of education, culture, and commerce, despite its well-documented flaws. But few people credit two deeply buried technologies for making the internet possible: hashing and cryptography. If more people understood the role these technologies play, more money and expertise would go toward uncovering and repairing security flaws. For instance, we probably would have fixed t...

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