Cryptography has been around for thousands of years. The skill of encryption and decryption has been in demand since ancient times and for various purposes, whether it be secret love correspondence of monarchs or radio messages from military intelligence officers from the enemy rear. The book tells about the history of this espionage science, the paradoxes and turns in its development, which led to new revolutionary discoveries | about scientists who have made a world contribution to the cryptographic business.Today, when information acquires almost the main commercial value and political importance, the art of cryptography becomes a powerful tool in the struggle for influence and superiority. A new and decisive stage in the evolution of computing systems is coming: the era of quantum computers. Very soon, the information stored in our databases will rush into a completely different reality, a strange and mysterious world, discovered for us by Max Planck a century ago. A world in which other laws of physics rule and other particles live, making it so attractive to the innermost human secrets. So, we are again waiting for an answer to the question: is the final victory of encryption over decryption coming in light of the expected emergence of quantum computers?