Certified Encryption Specialist (ECES) Masterclass

Name: Certified Encryption Specialist (ECES) Masterclass
Rating: 4.8 (72 reviews)

Master Cryptography: Encryption, Hashing, Digital Security, Protecting Data and Communications for Success.

Highest Rated

Created byForce Academy

Last updated 9/2025

English

What you'll learn

Understand the fundamentals of cryptography, its purpose, and historical evolution
Explain key security principles such as confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity
Differentiate between symmetric and asymmetric encryption and how each is used
Work with major algorithms like DES, 3DES, AES, RSA, Diffie–Hellman, and ECC
Compare stream ciphers and block ciphers and understand modes of operation (ECB, CBC, CTR, GCM)
Explore hash functions, their properties, and common algorithms (MD5, SHA family, SHA-3)
Implement message authentication codes, HMAC, and digital signatures
Apply cryptography to real-world scenarios such as SSL/TLS, PKI, email encryption, and blockchain
Recognize common attacks like brute force, cryptanalysis, and side-channel exploits
Identify weak key management practices and human factors that impact cryptographic security

Course content

6 sections • 28 lectures • 1h 31m total length

What is Cryptography?2:49
The Importance of Encryption in Security3:28
Encrypt data across networks and storage to keep information unreadable without the correct key, ensuring confidentiality, integrity, authentication via digital certificates and secure keys in online banking and communications.
Key Concepts: Confidentiality, Integrity, Authenticity2:55
Historical Background of Cryptography4:02

Basics of Symmetric Encryption2:57
Understand how symmetric encryption uses the same secret key to lock and unlock data, enabling fast, simple protection for files, databases, and disks, featuring des, triple des, and aes.
Stream Ciphers vs Block Ciphers3:12
Compare stream ciphers and block ciphers in symmetric encryption, focusing on data handling, keystream generation, modes of operation, and the trade-offs between speed and security.
DES and 3DES3:14
AES and Other Modern Symmetric Algorithms3:36
Modes of Operation (ECB, CBC, CTR, GCM)3:38
Explore block cipher modes for handling large data: ECB, CBC, CTR, and GCM, with each mode’s strengths and weaknesses. GCM adds authentication for TLS and VPNs.

Basics of Asymmetric Encryption2:13
Discover how asymmetric encryption uses a public key and a private key to securely exchange data, enabling digital certificates, secure email, https, and digital signatures.
RSA Algorithm Explained2:21
Discover how the RSA algorithm uses two keys, a public and a private key, to enable secure communication, encryption, decryption, and digital signatures using large primes.
Diffie–Hellman Key Exchange3:19
Establish a shared secret over insecure channels. Diffie-Hellman underpins https by enabling key exchange with modular arithmetic and primes, though it lacks authentication and enables man in the middle attack.
Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC)3:05
Explore elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), a public key system that delivers strong security with much smaller keys, enabling efficient ssl/tls, digital signatures, and crypto like bitcoin.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Asymmetric Cryptography2:59
Highlight the strengths of asymmetric cryptography, including key distribution with public and private keys and digital signatures for authentication and integrity, plus secure communication without prior exchange.

What is a Hash Function?2:38
Properties of Secure Hashing2:51
Common Hash Algorithms (MD5, SHA family, SHA-3)3:30
Learn about md5, sha-1, sha-2, and sha-3 hashing algorithms and why md5 and sha-1 are broken. See sha-2’s widespread use in digital signatures, certificates, and blockchain, and sha-3’s future-proof design.
HMAC and Digital Signatures3:28
Explore Mac and digital signatures to ensure integrity and authenticity. Show how Mac uses a shared secret with a hash, while digital signatures use private and public keys for non-repudiation.
Collision Attacks and Vulnerabilities2:51
Explains how hash collisions undermine integrity, outlines collision attacks and the birthday paradox, and promotes modern hash functions like sha256 and sha3 to replace md5 and sha1.

Digital Certificates and PKI Concepts3:51
Explore how digital certificates in PKI bind a public key to an identity, including subject, validity, and a certificate authority's signature for secure web, code signing, and email.
SSL/TLS and Secure Communication2:50
ssl and tls secure internet communication via a handshake, exchange of digital certificates from trusted authorities, and a certificate chain, using asymmetric and symmetric cryptography for confidentiality, integrity, and authentication.
Disk Encryption and File Encryption4:13
Protect data at rest by using disk encryption that secures the entire storage device, including the OS, and file encryption to guard specific files or folders.
Email Encryption (PGP, S/MIME)4:38
Compare PGP and S/MIME's approaches to email encryption, focusing on key management, digital signatures, and the trade-off between web of trust and centralized authorities.
Cryptography in Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies4:25
Explore how cryptography powers blockchain and cryptocurrencies, protecting data integrity with hash functions, enabling digital signatures with ECDSA, public/private keys, and decentralized trust without a central authority.

Brute Force Attacks3:19
Explore how brute force attacks test all possible password or key combinations using computing power. Learn defenses like long, complex passwords, account lockouts, multi-factor authentication, and strong password hashing.
Cryptanalysis Basics2:43
Side-Channel Attacks3:26
Understand how side-channel attacks exploit physical implementations to reveal secret keys through timing, power, electromagnetic, or acoustic signals, and learn countermeasures like random delays and shielding.
Weak Key Management and Human Factors2:35

Requirements

No prior cryptography experience needed – the course starts from foundational concepts

Description

|| Unofficial Course ||

This comprehensive course is designed to give learners a solid foundation in cryptography, equipping them with both theoretical knowledge and practical skills to protect information in today’s digital world.

Certified Encryption Specialist (ECES) is a globally recognized certification designed to introduce professionals and students to the fundamentals of cryptography and encryption. It provides both theoretical knowledge and practical skills, covering the history and principles of cryptography, symmetric and asymmetric encryption algorithms such as DES, AES, RSA, Diffie–Hellman and Elliptic Curve Cryptography, as well as hash functions, digital signatures and cryptanalysis basics.

You’ll start by exploring the fundamentals of cryptography, including its purpose, historical development, and the essential concepts of confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity. From there, you will gain a clear understanding of symmetric and asymmetric encryption methods, comparing stream and block ciphers, learning how algorithms like DES, 3DES, AES, RSA, Diffie–Hellman, and Elliptic Curve Cryptography work, and evaluating their strengths and weaknesses.

You’ll also dive into hashing and message authentication, discovering how hash functions, HMAC, and digital signatures ensure data integrity and authentication. The course covers key cryptographic applications such as digital certificates, PKI, SSL/TLS, disk and email encryption, as well as the role of cryptography in blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

In addition, you will learn about common vulnerabilities and attacks, including brute force, cryptanalysis, side-channel attacks, and weak key management, while also understanding the importance of proper implementation and human factors in maintaining security.

ECES also explores real-world applications like VPNs, digital certificates, disk encryption and secure communication, enabling participants to make informed decisions about encryption standards and implementations in their organizations.

By earning the ECES certification, individuals demonstrate their ability to understand, apply and evaluate cryptographic tools and techniques, enhancing their credibility and career prospects in the cybersecurity field.

By the end of this course, you will have a well-rounded understanding of the principles, algorithms, and applications of cryptography, enabling you to apply these concepts to secure communications, protect sensitive data, and assess potential security risks in real-world systems.

Thank you

Who this course is for:

Students and professionals who want to understand the foundations of cryptography and encryption
IT, networking, and system administrators looking to strengthen data security knowledge
Cybersecurity and information security practitioners who need a solid grasp of cryptographic principles
Ethical hackers, penetration testers, and security analysts seeking to enhance their skills
Developers and engineers who implement or work with secure communication systems
Anyone interested in protecting sensitive data, learning about encryption technologies, or pursuing security certifications like ECES or similar

Certified Encryption Specialist (ECES) Masterclass

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction to Cryptography4 lectures • 13min

Symmetric Cryptography5 lectures • 17min

Asymmetric Cryptography5 lectures • 14min

Hash Functions and Message Authentication5 lectures • 15min

Cryptographic Applications5 lectures • 20min

Attacks on Cryptography4 lectures • 12min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: