Cryptography
The algorithm uses prime numbers to create a publicly available encryption key for a message, while the decryption key remains private. It was unveiled in 1977 by cryptographers Ron Rivest and Adi Shamir and computer scientist Leonard Adleman, and commercialised. The same algorithm was developed by mathematician Clifford Cocks working for the British intelligence service GCHQ in 1973, but was not followed through commercially.
