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Hackers and whistleblowers have made encryption a common term.

But most people cant define it, let alone explain the use of encryption software or its underlying concepts.

You dont necessarily need to know each individual encryption algorithm or how to decrypt ciphertext to take advantage of encryption. But everyone should know the general types of encryption and use cases, at least so youre aware of potential vulnerabilities.

So what is encryption really?

Encryption is a way to transform data in such a way that only approved parties can decrypt it and then transform it into something comprehensible to humans.

Encryption, as a general concept, is the conversion or masking of information to prevent unauthorized parties from accessing it.

The altered information is referred to as ciphertext, which can be thought of as basically digital gibberish." The information is unintelligible and essentially impossible to use for anyone without the encryption key.

An encryption key is an indicator or identifier used to turn ciphertext into your desired output. Keys are kind of like passwords, but theyre virtually impossible to decipher without expert computational resources and decryption experience.

Authorized recipients, on the other hand, are in possession of the key. They can easily identify themselves and gain access to the sensitive data, messages or files. Depending on the data you want to encrypt, solutions can become more complex, but the focal point of encryption solutions is securing information.

Information security is more important than ever. Companies are rapidly adopting data security software and identity management software to improve the security of both personal and professional information.

Many industries require encryption for the storage of sensitive information, such as medical records or business transactions. Government regulations like GDPR and the the California Consumer Privacy Act have forced businesses to improve their protection of personal information under penalty of law.

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Encryption has become a staple in the technology world as a fortifying tool for accessing privileged information. Web application firewalls, or encrypted database software, will protect both end-user data and the sensitive business information a company wants kept secure.

There are a few different types of encryption algorithms that encrypt information and facilitate the encryption process. Asymmetric, symmetric and hashing formulas are the common methods to enable encryption, with a few variations existing.

While cryptography has existed in human society since the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, modern cryptography emerged during World War II. This implementation of keys was generated using computers.

Symmetric algorithms are used to implement private key encryption. In this situation, the encryption key is typically the same as the decryption key. The two communicating parties are in sole possession of the keys, keeping the secret between them.

These algorithms are common examples of symmetric encryption algorithms and are commonly used today:

AES Advanced Encryption Standard, or AES, is a specification for encryption designated by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2001. AES can be implemented in a variety of ways and is available through a number of partitioning, password management and file encryption tools.

It relies on keys made up of 16-byte plaintext blocks to generate keys of 128, 192 and 256 bits. To put that into perspective, it would take years for even dozens of supercomputers to guess the key.

Triple DES Triple DES, or 3DES, is a cipher that utilizes Data Encryption Standard. It was the accepted encryption standard until AES became effective.

Despite the replacement of 3DES, some industries continue to use it frequently. For example, OpenSSL, an open-source library and toolkit for internet security protocols, relies on 3DES implementation.

Twofish Twofish was a finalist to become the Advanced Encryption Standard, falling short to the current standard (referred to as the Rijndael prior to winning).

Asymmetric encryption, or public key encryption, is similar to symmetric methods, but utilizes unique keys to both encrypt and decipher information. It was first detailed nearly 40 years ago in a secret British government document.

These encryption tools emerged after people realized its dangerous to utilize duplicate keys and share them online. These provide a private key for the owner to use and keep to themselves.

A user can send information using your public key, but only you can open it using the private key. This is a stark contrast to the symmetric model where the same key is used in both situations.

RSA RSA is one of the first cryptosystems of this kind. It was classified under British intelligence, but made public in the late 1970s. Its considered relatively slow, but its strength lies in the inefficiency of calculating large prime numbers.

The system creates and publishes a public key made of two big prime numbers. Only individuals with knowledge of those original prime numbers can decipher the encrypted data.

ElGamal ElGamal, another example of asymmetric encryption algorithms, emerged in the mid-1980s as an alternative to RSA. Like RSA, its slower than most symmetric models, but provides additional security by asymmetrically generating keys previously used for symmetric encryption.

ElGamal is based on the DiffieHellman key exchange, which is a method of securely exchanging keys. It was one of the first cryptographic systems that ensured no two parties know both the encryption and decryption keys of their counterpart.

Hashing creates unique signatures to identify parties accessing information and track any changes they make. Technically, hashing is not encryption. But for many practical purposes, the application of hashing can be used for similar purposes.

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For the average user, applications with encryption features are more commonly used. These are a few technologies that frequently implement encryption into their base-level feature sets.

Data encryption Databases, data warehouses and backup servers are the most commonly encrypted types of software you will come across. Stored files are always a target because they can be the easiest to locate.

Data warehouses and backup systems often include enormous amounts of data that would be disastrous to lose. As a result, IT professionals are often quick to secure those files through encryption technology.

File encryption File encryption software helps to securely encrypt files and folders that are stored locally or within a cloud application. Strong file encryption will prevent hackers from actually accessing or altering sensitive data.

Many free file encryption software solutions exist for personal use but typically wont scale to suit the needs of a larger business. Encrypted databases, storage clouds and hard drives are often more fitting.

Encrypted messaging Email encryption and secure messaging apps turn communications into ciphertext, the encrypted form of information, which is far less valuable to hackers.

The receiving party may need an encryption key or verification tool to prove their identity and access communications files. These tools are often used by health care, human resources or government professionals who need to facilitate the secure transfer of sensitive information.

Endpoint encryption Full-disk encryption and hard drive encryption are two common examples of endpoint encryption solutions. If someones laptop is stolen, but their hard drive or hard drives were encrypted, it would be extremely difficult for someone to gain access to locally stored files without an encryption key.

Some endpoint protection and encryption tools also facilitate disk partitioning, which creates separately encrypted components and increased security through multiple layers of cipher text.

These are a handful of common features to look for when considering the adoption ofencryption tools these capabilities are detailed below:

Encryption solutions are just one security tool included in a healthy IT security software stack. Check out some of the top cybersecurity companies today!

Are you a security professional interested in free security tools? Check out our list of the 6 best free encryption software to consider in 2019.

Here is the original post:
What Is Encryption? An Overview of Modern Encryption ...

31 December,2015Jason Parms

Information security has grown to be a colossal factor, especially with modern communication networks, leaving loopholes that could be leveraged to devastating effects. This article presents a discussion on two popular encryption schemes that can be used to tighten communication security in Symmetric and Asymmetric Encryption. In principle, the best way to commence this discussion is to start from the basics first. Thus, we look at the definitions of algorithms and key cryptographic concepts and then dive into the core part of the discussion where we present a comparison of the two techniques.

An algorithm is basically a procedure or a formula for solving a data snooping problem. An encryption algorithm is a set of mathematical procedure for performing encryption on data. Through the use of such an algorithm, information is made in the cipher text and requires the use of a key to transforming the data into its original form. This brings us to the concept of cryptography that has long been used in information security in communication systems.

Cryptography is a method of using advanced mathematical principles in storing and transmitting data in a particular form so that only those whom it is intended can read and process it. Encryption is a key concept in cryptography It is a process whereby a message is encoded in a format that cannot be read or understood by an eavesdropper. The technique is old and was first used by Caesar to encrypt his messages using Caesar cipher. A plain text from a user can be encrypted to a ciphertext, then send through a communication channel and no eavesdropper can interfere with the plain text. When it reaches the receiver end, the ciphertext is decrypted to the original plain text.

This is the simplest kind of encryption that involves only one secret key to cipher and decipher information. Symmetrical encryption is an old and best-known technique. It uses a secret key that can either be a number, a word or a string of random letters. It is a blended with the plain text of a message to change the content in a particular way. The sender and the recipient should know the secret key that is used to encrypt and decrypt all the messages. Blowfish, AES, RC4, DES, RC5, and RC6 are examples of symmetric encryption. The most widely used symmetric algorithm is AES-128, AES-192, and AES-256.

The main disadvantage of the symmetric key encryption is that all parties involved have to exchange the key used to encrypt the data before they can decrypt it.

Asymmetrical encryption is also known as public key cryptography, which is a relatively new method, compared to symmetric encryption. Asymmetric encryption uses two keys to encrypt a plain text. Secret keys are exchanged over the Internet or a large network. It ensures that malicious persons do not misuse the keys. It is important to note that anyone with a secret key can decrypt the message and this is why asymmetrical encryption uses two related keys to boosting security. A public key is made freely available to anyone who might want to send you a message. The second private key is kept a secret so that you can only know.

A message that is encrypted using a public key can only be decrypted using a private key, while also, a message encrypted using a private key can be decrypted using a public key. Security of the public key is not required because it is publicly available and can be passed over the internet. Asymmetric key has a far better power in ensuring the security of information transmitted during communication.

Asymmetric encryption is mostly used in day-to-day communication channels, especially over the Internet. Popular asymmetric key encryption algorithm includes EIGamal, RSA, DSA, Elliptic curve techniques, PKCS.

To use asymmetric encryption, there must be a way of discovering public keys. One typical technique is using digital certificates in a client-server model of communication. A certificate is a package of information that identifies a user and a server. It contains information such as an organizations name, the organization that issued the certificate, the users email address and country, and users public key.

When a server and a client require a secure encrypted communication, they send a query over the network to the other party, which sends back a copy of the certificate. The other partys public key can be extracted from the certificate. A certificate can also be used to uniquely identify the holder.

SSL/TLS uses both asymmetric and symmetric encryption, quickly look at digitally signed SSL certificates issued by trusted certificate authorities (CAs).

When it comes to encryption, the latest schemes may necessarily the best fit. You should always use the encryption algorithm that is right for the task at hand. In fact, as cryptography takes a new shift, new algorithms are being developed in a bid to catch up with the eavesdroppers and secure information to enhance confidentiality. Hackers are bound to make it tough for experts in the coming years, thus expect more from the cryptographic community!

Read the rest here:
Symmetric vs. Asymmetric Encryption What are differences?

When you enable encryption, the Wi-Fi network requires a password so that not just anybody can connect. However, it's not just the password that's important but also the encryption type.

There are multiple options your router might support when it comes to wireless encryption. If you're using an outdated encryption method, attackers don't even need your password because they can just break the old encryption.

You can use your phone or tablet to see if a wireless network is using encryption. All you need to know is the name of the network.

Open your device's settings. There's usually a Settings app on the device that you can tap.

Locate the network in question.

Do you see a padlock icon next to the network? If so, it's using at least the most basic form of encryption, possibly the strongest type.

However, even if basic security is enabled, it could be using an outdated form of encryption.

See if the connection shows the encryption type. You might see WEP, WPA, or WPA2.

If your wireless network is wide open with no encryption enabled, you're practically inviting neighbors and other freeloaders to steal the bandwidth that you're paying good money for.

There was a time when WEP was the standard for securing wireless networks, but it was eventually cracked and is now easily bypassed by even the most novice hackers, thanks to cracking tools available on the internet.

After WEP came WPA. WPA had flaws, too, and was replaced by WPA2, which isn't perfect but is currently the best available offering for protecting home-based wireless networks.

If you set up your Wi-Fi router many years ago, then you could be using one of the old, hackable encryption schemes such as WEP, and should consider changing to WPA2.

All routers are different, but with a little poking around you should have no problem finding the encryption settings for your router.

This is done by accessing the router's IP address as a URL, such as http://192.168.1.1 or http://10.0.0.1. You'll then be prompted to enter the router's username and password.

If you don't know any of this information, check the router manufacturer's website for help or reset your router to restore the factory default settings.

Locate the wireless security settings. Your router might call this section Wireless Security, Wireless Network, or something similar.

In this example, the settings are in Basic Setup > Wireless > Security:

Change the encryption option to WPA2-PSK.

You might see a WPA2-Enterprise setting; the enterprise version of WPA2 is intended more for corporate environments and requires a more complicated setup process.

This is what users will enter when they need to get on your Wi-Fi network, so it should not be easy to guess or easy to remember, as tempting as that may be.

If you have to, store the complex password in a password manager so that you'll always have easy access to it.

Click Save or Apply to submit the changes. The router might have to reboot for the settings to take effect.

Reconnect all your wireless devices by selecting the correct network name and entering the new password in each device's Wi-Fi settings page.

You should periodically check your router manufacturer's website for firmware updates that they might release to fix security vulnerabilities associated with your router. The updated firmware might also contain new security features.

Read this article:
How to Encrypt Your Wireless Network - Lifewire