For much of recorded history, humans have had a deep impulse to protect information and to keep guarded secrets away from prying eyes. This desire has driven the evolution of creating and solving codes, a practice known as cryptography.
People have spent painstaking hours, days, and even years creating and breaking codes in the hopes of maintaining secrecy during communication. But the history of this cloak-and-dagger behavior is complex and fraught with tension.
Cryptography has been used in countless ways, from hidden tattoos to advanced supercomputers, and it all comes down to a question of trust, privacy, and power. How far are people willing to go to safeguard their secrets? Click through this gallery to find out.