Explore the significance of data encryption. Safeguard your information by understanding the advantages, techniques, and recommended approaches for securing data.
What is data encryption?
How does data encryption work?
Modern encryption of data is a type of cryptography, an ancient method of concealing information by replacing one character with another. Encryption is a combination of English and Greek, meaning “in hidden” or, more loosely, “in hiding.” Encryption operates using a complex mathematical algorithm called a data encryption cipher. Like the secret decoder rings found in children’s cereal boxes, the cipher algorithm converts regular data (plaintext) into a series of seemingly random, unidentifiable characters known as “ciphertext.”
The ciphertext is indecipherable. For instance, the phrase “Hi, how are you?” might encrypt into a ciphertext like “8363, 5017, 11884, 9546.” To revert to “Hi, how are you?” requires a decryption process.
Decryption, which involves converting ciphertext back to plaintext, employs the same algorithmic “key” used in encrypting data
Who needs to use data encryption?
Data confidentiality is necessary for almost everyone, not just secret agents. Encryption is widely used in various technology services to protect data without users’ awareness. Businesses should use encryption that, if breached, could harm their financial standing. Similarly, individuals use to encrypt sensitive personal information such as medical records and social security numbers.
Benefits of data encryption
Data Integrity: Encryption is crucial in maintaining data integrity by detecting any alterations or corruption in encrypted data, allowing for swift action against potential fraud and data breaches.
Device Protection: Encryption technology enhances device security by minimizing data transfer risks and implementing advanced authentication processes, ensuring data security across multiple devices.
Remote Office Security: As remote work becomes more prevalent, managing encryption helps safeguard data from theft or accidental loss, ensuring remote office security.
Regulatory Compliance: Encryption assists organizations in complying with industry-specific regulations by ensuring the safe handling and storage of customer data.
Cloud Data Security: Encrypted storage guarantees data privacy when transferring data in the cloud storage, ensuring cloud data security.
Intellectual Property Protection: Encryption of data is essential for safeguarding intellectual property such as music or software, preventing unauthorized use, duplication, or reverse engineering, particularly when used with digital rights management systems.
Data encryption solutions
There are two primary types of encryption solutions: data at rest and data in transit.
Data at rest refers to information stored on servers or computer hard drives. On the other hand, data in transit involves the transmission of data through email or internal system-to-system messages within a network.
Different solutions are available for data at rest and data in transit, each with its own implications. To encrypt data at rest, applications that require access to encrypted data must be configured with the ability to decrypt it. Various data security solutions, such as BitLocker for Windows or FileVault for macOS, are available.
For encrypting data in transit, both the sender and receiver must have the capability, which is the key to encrypt and decrypt. This type of encryption is known as end-to-end encryption (E2EE). Encryption in transit protects data as it is being transmitted between two or more parties, ensuring that unauthorized individuals cannot intercept or read it. Meeting these requirements can be administratively challenging, particularly when sending encrypted messages outside an organization, leading to increased complexity.
Common data encryption types
These are the most prevalent types of data classification encryption. The two different encryption methods are public key, also called asymmetric encryption, and private key, known as symmetric encryption. While both use key pairs, they differ in how the keys are shared between sending and receiving parties and how they manage the encrypt/decrypt process.
Public key encryption – asymmetric encryption
In public-key/asymmetric encryption, the sender encrypts the data using a publicly known key. The receiver possesses the private key, corresponding to the public key used for encryption. To decrypt the data, the receiver uses the private and public keys.
