Cryptography involves secret writing and is used to secure sensitive information. It has two main types: symmetric-key cryptography where encryption and decryption keys are the same, and asymmetric-key cryptography where the keys are different. Common symmetric algorithms include transposition ciphers while asymmetric algorithms include RSA which uses public and private key pairs. Steganography hides messages within other innocent-looking files like images and is used for digital copyright and covert communication.