# Cryptography & Cryptographic Codes Cryptography is the science of creating or solving codes. Cryptography is used to create cryptographic codes for blockchain security. When there is a need to ensure that a block of data is unchanged, cryptographic codes can be used to provide that assurance. The (potentially very large) block of data is given as input to a code generator algorithm which returns a much shorter result. If anyone wants to verify that the original data has not been changed, they can input the data into the generator and verify the same code is created. Any alteration will alter the result, so instead of comparing a pair of text files containing 10 gigabytes of information, we can compare a series of 256 ones and zeros, in the specific case of the Bitcoin hash. #### *How are Cryptography & Cryptographic Codes relevant to the Network State?* Cryptography provides a way to ensure transparency by allowing the creation of tools that citizens can use to verify the authenticity of the data they are viewing. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://gitbook.jur.io/wiki-network-state/dictionary/cryptography-and-cryptographic-codes.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.