Commentary
A (Very) Brief History of Pre-Computer Cryptography, Part 1
Author(s):
Adam Firestone, Editor-in-Chief , United States Cybersecurity Magazine
This is the first part of a two-part article exploring the history of pre-computer cryptography. Part 1 will focus on the period from the birth of cryptography some 4,000 years ago to the development of early transposition and substitution ciphers. Part 2 looks at the emergence of cryptanalysis under the Abbasid Caliphate and goes through … Read more


Adam Firestone is the Editor-in-Chief of United States Cybersecurity Magazine as well as a member of the Security Industry Association’s Cyber Advisory Board. Mr. Firestone has more than 22 years of experience in the security, defense, intelligence, and government contracting industries. He is an accomplished solutions architect, senior engineering executive with experience in advanced cryptology and identity management technologies, has led a cybersecurity organization, and the defense and federal subsidiary of a global Cloud-native middleware company. Mr. Firestone has a patented invention for ensuring multi-level data security. Additionally, Mr. Firestone is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. He graduated from Yale University, is a former United States Army officer, and also possesses a legal background, having practiced law in New York.