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Why Cloud Backup Alone is Not Enough – Net Newsledger

July 10, 2017 | Author: admin

NEW YORK We all know that recently, many cloud computing services have gained lots of fans. Many people choose to use this way of storing their data because its accessible, flexible and affordable. But its also important to know how to adequately use a cloud storage option and how to integrate it with the entire protection strategy youre adopting. Usually, it is recommended for you to use some other protection software, such as the novabackup. But lets see why you shouldnt completely rely on cloud storage:

Indeed, everybody says that cloud storage is really accessible. And it generally is, but what happens if you dont have any Internet access? The downside here is that you depend completely upon Internet in order to access your own backups. Or maybe you do have an Internet connection, but its really slow? Just imagine how long it would take for you to restore the data you have stored on the cloud to another system. Because of this, you should consider twice if you want to use only a cloud storage service.

A backup is useful only if you can recover data from it. Just imagine what would happen if you were the victim of such a ransomware attack, just like it happened in the last weeks. Since your computer would be infected, the cloud storage option would suffer as well, which means that the copy of your data which you stored there has become redundant. As long as the local storage device is connected to the network, the latter may also become a victim of the attack. Yet again, the cloud storage alone is not a good option if you want to keep your data safe.

As much as youd love cloud services, you have to be aware of the fact that not all providers will survive forever. What happens if the cloud storage provider you chose goes bankrupt or simply goes out of business? Most likely, the data you stored there would be gone. Another possibility is that the data you stored would be transferred to a different company, which may impose some new rules and you might not like them.

Whenever you sign up for a cloud storage option, you as a customer are responsible for the compliance and the security of the data stored there. As such, how do you feel when passing on this responsibility to the cloud company? If youre working in a highly regulated industry, there are some serious fines if the data doesnt comply to the rules, so think well if youre willing to risk it or not.

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Why Cloud Backup Alone is Not Enough - Net Newsledger

Is Solar-Powered Cryptocurrency Mining the Next Big Thing? – Investopedia

July 10, 2017 | Author: admin

Cryptocurrency mining is a difficult and costly activity. Miners must pay to build rigs capable of vast amounts of processing power, and then the rigs themselves must be powered with large quantities of electricity. It's all a careful balance between how much the operation costs and how much profit it is able to generate. (See also: What Happens to Bitcoin After All 21 Million are Mined?)

With mining operations for Ethereum, one of the leading digital currencies on the market today, taking up the same share of electricity as that of a small country, miners have to be careful that they aren't spending more than they are making. Because of that, some mining operations have begun to look to solar-powered rigs, set up in the desert, in order to reduce mining costs and make the largest profit possible. (See also: Chinese Investment in Bitcoin Mining is Enormous.)

Mining operations with the tools and resources to be able to set up solar-powered rigs in the desert are finding that it is a good investment. Once you have paid for the solar panel system itself, the cost of mining is virtually free. Getting rid of a hefty electric bill which typically weighs down mining operations leaves more room for profit.

The Merkle recently documented a mining operation focused on Bitcoin in this manner. The setup has been running successfully for almost a year and currently uses 25 separate computing rigs. The process has been so profitable, in fact, that the miner running the operation plans to increase the number of computers to 1,000 this fall.

In the case of this particular desert miner, the individual mining rigs cost about $8,000. This cost has included all solar panels, power controls, batteries, and the Antminer S9 ASIC processor. When fully operational, each miner brings in a profit of about $18 per day.

Of course, a cheap mining operation is only part of the equation. In order for miners to make a tidy profit, the price of the cryptocurrencies they are generating must remain high.

In the case of the mining operation in question, Merkle suggests that Bitcoin prices must stay above $2,000 in order for the operation to be profitable. Considering that the price of most cryptocurrencies is highly volatile, and that drops of 205 or more have occurred in many individual days, this keeps a certain element of risk present in any mining operation.

It seems likely that more and more miners will turn to areas in which renewable energy is easily accessed. Iceland has already become a popular destination for Bitcoin miners thanks to its fast, virtually limitless internet. Miners looking to move to the desert should be cautious for other reasons, though: mining in the heat can cause rigs to break down more easily.

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Is Solar-Powered Cryptocurrency Mining the Next Big Thing? - Investopedia

Secret millions for cryptocurrency trader – SFGate

July 10, 2017 | Author: admin

Photo: KAREN BLEIER, AFP / Getty Images

Secret millions for cryptocurrency trader

An unknown cryptocurrency trader turned $55 million of paper wealth into $283 million in just over a month.

The only clue about this person or persons, beyond a virtual wallet with an ID code, surfaced on a June 11 Instagram posting, in Indonesian, in which someone boasted about the 413 percent profit accumulated this year from ether, the digital money of the Ethereum blockchain.

I get many private messages asking how much ether I have, the post read, alongside photos that purported to be the hardware powering a mining operation, but looked lifted from another website. One of the cool things about Ethereum is that all wallets around the world are transparent and open for everyone to see. And this is my wallets savings.

Hidden identities are a popular feature of the twilight world of virtual money. Now that the total value of cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin and ether, soared June 6 to more than $100 billion, approaching the market value of McDonalds Corp., concerned regulators say it might be time to link wallet IDs with actual humans.

Secrecy persists from the days when Ross Ulbricht, going by the name Dread Pirate Roberts, used bitcoin to launder money and traffic in narcotics, activities for which he started serving a life term at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.

Thats not to say that the person in Indonesia or any other entities are doing anything illegal. But opacity may be worsening jagged price movements. The value of ether, for example, rose from about $8 a unit at the start of the year to crest at $400 in June before settling around $250 now. A lack of transparency could also be stifling the mainstreaming of online money, according to draft legislation issued by the European Parliament in March.

The credibility of virtual currencies will not rise if they are used for criminal purposes, the draft said. In this context, anonymity will become more a hindrance than an asset for virtual currencies and their potential future popularity.

Pseudonymity has always been a big part of the markets allure. Upending traditional ways of doing business was the lodestar for Ethereums inventor, 23-year-old Vitalik Buterin. He released his software in 2015, not long after dropping out of Canadas University of Waterloo.

One of its more important features is that you dont have identities tied to this, said Spencer Bogart, head of research at venture firm Blockchain Capital. This financial privacy is an important characteristic.

Ether, the second-most-popular cryptocurrency after bitcoin, is used to pay for applications or programs that run on the Ethereum blockchain, a secured list of transactions that can be shared. That allows for the use of smart contracts, or pieces of computer code that make the terms of such agreements operate automatically. The blockchain has the potential to reshape business and finance by enabling immediate settlements of activities such as bank transfers and securities trades.

Tom Metcalf is a Bloomberg writer. Email: tmetcalf7@bloomberg.net

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Secret millions for cryptocurrency trader - SFGate

Cryptocurrency ATB Coin Offers Investors a Crypto-Lottery for the $20.000 Grand Prize. Only 2 Days Left! – CryptoCoinsNews

July 10, 2017 | Author: admin

This is a sponsored story. CCN does not endorse, nor is responsible for any material included below and isnt responsible for any damages or losses connected with any products or services mentioned in the material below. CCN urges readers to conduct their own research with due diligence into the company, product or service mentioned below.

In less than 2 days, we will congratulate ATB Coin Crypto-Lottery winners. The Grand Prize fund of $20.000 is to be shared between 5 randomly chosen investors. The process and the results of lottery will be announced on a special page on ATB Coin website. The lottery will be held at 6 p.m. on July 11th for registered users who invest a minimum 200 ATB. For each 200 ATB, the investor gets one lottery ticket. The larger the amount invested, the greater the chance to win.

Prize funds are:

During the ICO, which still remains open today, the newly introduced cryptocurrency ATB Coin has already attracted 1700+ investors. Such an interest in this cryptocurrency is due to the numerous advantages of ATB Coin that is going to be the most secure, fast, and flexible, according to analysts. The strongest features of ATB Coin allow it to stand ahead of competition:

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Quantum computers compete for supremacy – Salon

July 10, 2017 | Author: admin

Scientists have long dreamed of developing quantum computers, machines that rely on arcane laws of physics to perform tasks far beyond the capability of todays strongest supercomputers. In theory such a machine could create mathematical models too complex for standard computers, vastly extending the range and accuracy of weather forecasts and financial market predictions, among other things. They could simulate physical processes such as photosynthesis, opening new frontiers in green energy. Quantum computing could also jolt artificial intelligence to a vastly higher level of sophistication: If IBMs Watson can already win at Jeopardy! and make some medical diagnoses, imagine what an enormously smarter version could do.

But to realize those visions, scientists first have to figure out how to actually build a quantum computer that can perform more than the simplest operations. They are now getting closer than ever, with IBM in May announcing its most complex quantum system so far and Google saying it is on track this year to unveil a processor with so-called quantum supremacy capabilities no conventional computer can match.

Small systems exist, but the next steps in the race to make them bigger will have to determine whether quantum computers can deliver on their potential. Scientists and industry players have focused largely on one of two approaches. One cools loops of wire to near 273.15 degrees Celsius, or absolute zero, turning them into superconductors where current flows with virtually no resistance. The other relies on trapped ionscharged atoms of the rare earth element ytterbium held in place in a vacuum chamber by laser beams and manipulated by other lasers. The oscillating charges (in both the wires and the trapped ions) function as quantum bits, or qubits, which can be harnessed to carry out the computers operations.

Quantum leaps

The trick to either approach is figuring out how to get from already demonstrated systemscontaining just a few qubits to ones that can handle the hundreds or thousands required for the kind of heavy lifting that quantum technology seems to promise. Last year IBM made a five-qubit quantum processor available to developers, researchers and programmers for experimentation via its cloud portal. The company has made significant progress since then, revealing in May that it has upgraded its cloud-based quantum computer to a 16-qubit processorand created a more tightly engineered 17-qubit processor that could be the basis for commercial systems. Both are based on the wire-loop superconducting circuits, as is Googles 20-qubit processor, which the company announced at a conference in Munich, Germany, on June 22. Alan Ho, an engineer in Googles Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab, told the conference his company expects to achieve quantum supremacy with a 49-qubit chip by the end of this year.

Those numbers may not seem impressive. But a qubit is much more powerful than the kind of bit that serves as the smallest unit of data in a conventional computer. Those bits are based on the flow of electrical current, and make up the digital language in which all computing functions: Off means 0 and on means 1, and those two states encode all of the computers operations. Qubits, however, are not based on yes/no electrical switchesbut rather on a particles quantum properties, such as the direction in which an electron spins. And in the quantum world a particle can simultaneously exist in a variety of states more complex than simply on/off a phenomenon known as superposition. You can have heads, you can have tails, but you can also have any weighted superposition. You can have 70-30 heads-tails, says Christopher Monroe, a physicist at the University of Maryland, College Park, and founder of IonQ, a start-up working on building a quantum computer with trapped ions.

The more-than-binary ability to occupy multiple states at once allows qubits to perform many calculations simultaneously, vastly magnifying their computing power. That power grows exponentially with the number of qubits. So at somewhere around 49 or 50 qubits, quantum computers reach the equivalent of about 10 quadrillion bits and become capable of calculations no classical computer could ever match, says John Preskill, a theoretical physicist at California Institute of Technology. Whether they will be doing useful things is a different question, he says.

Both superconducting circuits and trapped ions have a good shot at hitting that fiftyish-qubit threshold, says Jerry Chow, manager of experimental quantum computing at IBM T. J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Conventional thinking would suggest that more qubits means more power but Chow notes its not just about the number of qubits. He is more focused on the number and quality of calculations the machine can perform, a metric he calls quantum volume. That includes additional factors such as how fast the qubits can perform the calculations and how well they avoid or correct for errors that can creep in. Some of those factors can work against one another; adding more qubits, for instance, can increase the rate of errors as information passes down the line from one qubit to another. As a community we should all be focusingno matter whether were working on superconducting qubits or trapped ions or whatever on pushing this quantum volume higher and higher so we can really make more and more powerful quantum processors and do things that we never thought of, Chow says.

Better, not bigger

Monroe recently compared his five-qubit trapped ion system with IBMs five-qubit processor by running the same simple algorithms on both, and found the performance comparable. The biggest difference, he says, is that the trapped ions are all connected to one another via electromagnetic forces: Wiggle one ion in a string of 30 and every other ion reacts, making it easy to quickly and accurately pass information among them. In the wire-loop superconductor circuit only some qubits are connected, which makes passing information a slower process that can introduce errors.

One advantage of superconducting circuits is that they are easy to build using the same processes that make computer chips. They perform a computers basic logic gate operations that is, adding, subtracting or otherwise manipulating the bits in billionths of a second. On the other hand, qubits in this type of system hold their quantum state for only milliseconds thousandths of a second so any operation must be completed in that time.

Trapped ions, by contrast, retain their quantum states for many seconds sometimes even minutes or hours. But the logic gates in such a system run about 1,000 times slower than in superconductor-based quantum computing. That speed reduction probably does not matter in simple operations with just a few qubits, Monroe says. But it could become a problem for getting an answer in a reasonable amount of time as the number of qubits increases. For superconducting qubits, rising numbers may mean a struggle to connect them together.

And increasing the number of qubits, no matter what technology they are used with, makes it harder to connect and manipulate them because that must be done while keeping them isolated from the rest of the world so they will maintain their quantum states. The more atoms or electrons are grouped together in large numbers, the more the rules of classical physics take over and the less significant the quantum properties of the individual atoms become to how the whole system behaves. When you make a quantum system big, it becomes less quantum, Monroe says.

Chow thinks quantum computers will become powerful enough to do at least something beyond the capability of classical computers possibly a simulation in quantum chemistry within about five years. Monroe says it is reasonable to expect systems containing a few thousand qubits in a decade or so. To some extent, Monroe says, researchers will not know what they will be able to do with such systems until they figure out how to build them.

Preskill, who is 64, says he thinks he will live long enough to see quantum computers have an impact on society in the way the internet and smartphones have although he cannot predict exactly what that impact will be. These quantum systems kind of speak a language that digital systems dont speak, he says. We know from history that we just dont have the imagination to anticipate where new information technologies can carry us.

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Quantum computers compete for supremacy - Salon

Tech Data Tightens Cloud Integration With Microsoft To Unlock Simpler Experience For SMBs – CRN

July 10, 2017 | Author: admin

Tech Data said it will integrate Microsoft's new Office 365, mobility and security suite with the distributor's pre-configured Microsoft Azure-based cloud server for small businesses.

The Clearwater, Fla.-based company said it will be one of just five companies and the only distributor going live during the 2017 Microsoft Inspire conference with a system around Microsoft 365 Business that can be demoed, according to Reza Honarmand, vice president of Tech Data Cloud Europe.

"The Microsoft guys were extremely surprised we were able to turn it around," Honarmand told CRN. "We're very proud that we were chosen for this."

[RELATED: CRN Exclusive: Tech Data Gives SMB-Focused Partners A Leg Up With New Pre-Configured Microsoft Azure-Based Cloud Server]

Tech Data has been working very closely with Microsoft since April to integrate the Redmond, Wash.-based vendor's 365 Business into the distributor's small-business cloud server, which debuted last month, according to Stacy Nethercoat, vice president of Tech Data cloud solutions, Americas. The distributor is Microsoft's second-largest partner globally, and the market leader in many segments and geographies.

As Microsoft developed 365 Business, Nethercoat told CRN that Tech Data developed its connection into the vendor's end point, and completed its work in record time. The combined offering will be available to Microsoft partners by the fall through StreamOne, Tech Data's cloud aggregation, management and billing platform.

Integrating Microsoft 365 Business with Tech Data's small business cloud server will make it easier for channel partners and end users to move into the cloud rather than replace old hardware, Nethercoat said. Prior to the launch of 365 Business, Nethercoat said partners had to stitch Microsoft's Office 365, mobility and security capabilities together on their own.

Combining Microsoft 365 Business with Tech Data's cloud server will provide channel partners with more ongoing control and management over Windows Server 2016, Active Directory, and the Intune cloud-based management offering, Nethercoat said. This will make it easier for MSPs to manage the Microsoft environment, devices and data of their end-user clients, according to Nethercoat.

Tech Data's offering will also help facilitate connections between the Microsoft Office suite and third-party vendors, Honarmand said, with applications from such suppliers as Sage running on the distributor's small business cloud server and enjoying a connection to Office 365.

The integrated offering will benefit a wide range of channel partners that are responsible for either deploying instances of Office 365 or rolling out servers, Honarmand said. Nethercoat expects the joint offering to grow rapidly since it pulls together a complete, secure solution.

"The vast majority of our VARs would benefit from this," Honarmand said. "It can be a pretty good opportunity for VARs to upsell security into an Office 365 environment."

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Tech Data Tightens Cloud Integration With Microsoft To Unlock Simpler Experience For SMBs - CRN

New ‘Microsoft 365’ package bundles Windows and Office for businesses – GeekWire

July 10, 2017 | Author: admin

Satya Nadella speaks at Microsoft Ignite 2016 (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota)

Microsoft is giving its partners a new package of some of its most popular PC software to sell, rather than having them piece together all the software needed to run business computers, as it kicks off its Inspire partner conference in Washington D.C.

The new package is called Microsoft 365, and the company will start with two different flavors. Essentially a rebranding of Secure Productive Enterprise, Microsoft 365 Enterprise comes with Windows 10 Enterprise, Office 365 Enterprise, and the Enterprise Mobility + Security products. Microsoft 365 Business is designed for small to medium-size businesses and comes with Office 365 Business Premium as well as security and management features for Office apps and Windows 10 devices, Microsoft said.

CEO Satya Nadella plans to unveil the new bundles during his keynote address later today, and Microsoft executives Judson Althoff and Brad Smith will speak later in the week. Previously known as the Worldwide Partner Conference (much snazzier name this year), Inspire is designed to cater to the thousands of partners that Microsoft has developed over the years. That includes companies that are using Microsoft technologies at the heart of their own business models, from small systems integrators to big cloud services companies like Box.

Nadella plans to announce a few other updates during his keynote address, according to Microsoft representatives.

Later in the week, Althoff will announce that Microsoft has signed a deal with KPMG that will see the accounting company offer an auditing service for its clients through Azure. That would make KPMG the first of the Big Four accounting companies to offer an auditing service on the public cloud, Microsoft said.

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New 'Microsoft 365' package bundles Windows and Office for businesses - GeekWire

Hybrid cloud and blockchain solutions will be the future for data backup – Information Age

July 10, 2017 | Author: admin

Advanced technologies that are already on the market have transformed the data protection model, creating a new data protection paradigm where which data is not just copied or backed up, but where it is also protected from cyber attacks in the cloud via blockchain-based verification

Civilisation is built on the ability to manipulate complex data and on the ability to store that data securely, yet in a retrievable and usable form.

The earliest civilisations used clay tablets, tally sticks, knotted string and scrolls to keep their data safe; with the dawn of the Machine Age, the evolution of storage systems picked up pace, and society rattled through punch cards, cogs, magnetic media, Hard Disc Drives, floppy discs, optical storage systems like CD-ROMs, Laserdisc and DVDs, flash drives and the now almost ubiquitous USB sticks.

The logical next step, given improvements in telecoms and the development of WiFi, broadband, 3G, 4G and 5G services, is to migrate to hybrid cloud data storage, where vital data is kept safe by being distributed across multiple remote locations in off-site servers and can be accessed via Cloud-based platforms as and when necessary.

>See also:Cloud backup and recovery: helping businesses take on the giants

Companies may pay a third-party a fee for data storage and back-up services based on the capacity, bandwidth or number of users they specify; or organisations may invest in their own off-site servers; or they may opt for hybrid cloud solutions (a mixture of private and public cloud platforms).

Whatever option chosen, companies need to develop and implement a cloud back-up strategy which enhances their data protection coverage, with minimal increased staff workload. Many companies are already applying such strategies, which is no surprise as data storage is just one element of a much wider migration to cloud-based solutions for data-intensive activities.

The forces converging to drive every kind of enterprise and organisation into cloud resources generally are similarly motivating the movement to cloud backup specifically. Certain cloud backup advantages are also influencing IT managers to integrate cloud backup capabilities into hybrid IT implementations.

An Inc. magazine article from last summer outlines three reasons that define how cloud solutions drive efficiency and how theyll shape enterprise IT going forward:

Innovation Cloud is the computing architecture of the future and is driving open-source innovation ahead faster than conventional server solutions and bringing previously high-end technology and innovation to every segment. Agility Successful companies innovate faster and more efficiently. A cloud strategy delivers the lowest-cost, most scalable IT infrastructure so companies can focus on core strengths and competitive advantages, rather than infrastructure investments. Cost optimisation Low-cost, open-source technology is now available; and expensive, proprietary technology is under pressure.

Without access to mission critical data whether financial or technical a company is lost. Its essential to have modern and dependable systems in place to protect essential business information.

>See also:Six data trends for 2017

Sophisticated cloud backup solutions have emerged as secure and cost-effective data protection options for businesses of all sizes. The advantages of cloud backup include:

Lower total cost of ownership; Reliability and recovery speed; Data security; Protection for cloud data; Protection against ransomware.

The benefits of cloud solutions are very real; but they must also offer data integrity from external (and sometimes internal) breaches and system failures.

With the ever-increasing flood of data, evolving threats, and the emerging Artificial Intelligence-based computing landscape, its essential to deploy backup solutions that meet todays needs but which can also be scaled to meet the demands of tomorrow.

The latest technology for secure data storage is blockchain, which can provide global authenticity and security for data and transactions of any kind, reducing the cost and complexity by removing centralised trust systems and making data tamper-proof.

>See also:Are businesses still taking risks with back up?

Solutions using blockchain technology can provide indisputable data verification in any industry. Common use cases include property and medical records, chain-of-evidence for court documents, police video or security camera footage, intellectual property documents, long-term archiving that could be subject to IT audits, and consortium data storage, where multiple entities or individuals need to securely store and exchange massive amounts of data and information.

Using blockchain technology, data and transactions are processed to produce a unique signature verified by rules of consensus. When these signatures are entered into blockchain, they can never be erased.

Around the world, governments, regulatory authorities, companies and industry bodies are accepting the benefits of Blockchain two US states have already passed bills that recognise Blockchain-based technologies as immutable and providing uncensored truth with many more set to follow.

The best way to think of blockchain is as an append-only ledger with a transaction order that is distributed between many entities, each one keeping the same copy of it. Each record in the ledger is time-stamped, is immutable and independently verifiable. Blockchain secured data has provable integrity because the data is attributed to an irrefutable identity, is validated by all copies of the ledger, is always available, and can never be changed.

>See also:5 most common ways businesses lose data

Leading data backup vendors have already integrated blockchain-based data verification technologies into their data protection and storage products, placing it within reach of any business, big or small.

As a result, when using these solutions to back-up your data to local drives or the cloud, you can add a level of confidence to the authenticity of your personal and business data.

In the current-day environment, where data is under constant threat, traditional backup is not enough to guarantee data protection. Advanced technologies that are already on the market have transformed the data protection model, creating a new data protection paradigm where which data is not just copied or backed up, but where it is also protected from cyber attacks in the cloud via blockchain-based verification.

Sourced byJohn Zanni, CMO and SVP Channel & Cloud Strategy at Acronis

The UKs largest conference fortechleadership,TechLeadersSummit, returns on 14 September with 40+ top execs signed up to speak about the challenges and opportunities surrounding the most disruptive innovations facing the enterprise today.Secure your place at this prestigious summit byregisteringhere

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Hybrid cloud and blockchain solutions will be the future for data backup - Information Age

Encryption software – Wikipedia

July 10, 2017 | Author: admin

Encryption software is software that uses cryptography to prevent unauthorized access to digital information.[1][2] Practically speaking, people use cryptography today to protect the digital information on their computers as well as the digital information that is sent to other computers over the Internet.[3] As software that implements secure cryptography is complex to develop and difficult to get right,[4] most computer users make use of the encryption software that already exists rather than writing their own.

As encryption software is an important component in providing protection from cybercrime, there are many, many software products that provide encryption. Because there are so many software products that provide encryption, a good way to begin understanding this topic is classification by categorization.

Software encryption uses a cipher to obscure the content into ciphertext, so one way to classify this type of software is by the type of cipher used. Ciphers can be categorized into two categories: public key ciphers, also known as asymmetric ciphers, and symmetric key ciphers. Thus, encryption software may be said to based on public key or symmetric key encryption.

Another way to classify software encryption is to categorize its purpose. Using this approach, software encryption may be classified into software that encrypts "data in transit" and software that encrypts "data at rest".

As it turns out, these two types of classifications has something in common: that is, data in transit generally uses public key ciphers, and data at rest generally uses symmetric key ciphers.

However, software encryption is not as simple at that.

To begin with, symmetric key ciphers can be further subdivided into stream ciphers and block ciphers. Stream ciphers typically encrypt plaintext a bit or byte at a time, and are most commonly used to encrypt real-time communications, such as audio and video information. The key is used to establish the initial state of a keystream generator, and the output of that generator is used to encrypt the plaintext. Block cipher algorithms split the plaintext into fixed-size blocks and encrypt one block at a time. For example, AES processes 16-byte blocks, while its predecessor DES encrypted blocks of eight bytes.

Also, there is also a well-known case where PKI is used for data in transit of data at rest.

Data in transit is data that is being sent over a network. When the data is between two endpoints, any confidential information may be vulnerable to snooping. To maintain the confidentiality of the transmission, the payload (confidential information) can be encrypted to protect its confidentiality, as well as its integrity and non-repudiation.[5]

Often, the data in transit is between two entities that do not know each other - such as visiting a website. As establishing a relationship and securely sharing an encryption key to secure the information that will be exchanged, a set of roles, policies, and procedures to accomplish this has been developed; it is known as the public key infrastructure, or PKI. Once PKI has established a secure connection, a symmetric key can be shared between endpoints. A symmetric key is preferred to over the private and public keys as a symmetric cipher is much more efficient (uses less CPU cycles) than an asymmetric cipher.[6][7]

Below are some examples of software that provide this type of encryption.

Data at rest refers data that has been saved to persistent storage. Generally speaking, data at rest is encrypted by a symmetric key.

As mentioned previously, there are many, many software products that provide encryption. This Wikipedia article lists and compares the these software products by providing several tables that demonstrate their features. While these products are all listed under "disk" encryption, this may be a bit misleading.

In looking at this table that compares whether the encryption software works at the disk, partition, file, etc. layer, there just doesn't seem to be enough room to capture all the options. That's because encryption may be applied at different layers in the storage stack. For example, encryption can be configured at the disk layer, on a subset of a disk called a partition, on a volume, which is a combination of disks or partitions, at the layer of a file system, or within userland applications such as database or other applications that run on the host operating system.

With full disk encryption, the entire disk is encrypted (except for the bits necessary to boot or access the disk when not using an unencrypted boot/preboot partition).[8] As disks can be partioned into multiple partitions, partition encryption can be used to encrypt individual disk partitions.[9][9] Volumes, created by combinining two or more partitions, can be encrypted using volume encryption.[10] File systems, also composed of one or more partitions, can be encrypted using file system encryption. Directories are referred to as encrypted when the files within the directory are encrypted.[11][12] File encryption encrypts a single file. Database encryption acts on the data to be stored, accepting unencrypted information and writing that information to persistent storage only after it has encrypted the data. Device-level encryption, a somewhat vague term that includes encryption-capable tape drives, can be used to offload the encryption tasks from the CPU.

As demonstrated by this Wikipedia article there are a large number of encryption software products in this space. For that reason it does not seem prudent to attempt to capture all of that information in this article. Instead, it is recommended to look into one or more of these articles.

When there is a need to securely transmit data at rest, without the ability to create a secure connection, userland tools have been developed that support this need. These tools rely upon the receiver publishing their public key, and the sender being able to obtain that public key. The sender is then able to create a symmetric key to encrypt the information, and then use the receivers public key to securely protect the transmission of the information and the symmetric key. This allows secure transmission of information from one party to another.

Below are some examples of software that provide this type of encryption.

Excerpt from:
Encryption software - Wikipedia

Top Encryption Software for 2016 – PCMag

July 10, 2017 | Author: admin

Symantec Endpoint Encryption provides encryption and centralized management to protect sensitive information while ensuring regulatory compliance.

Bottom Line Symantec Endpoint Encryption protects sensitive information and ensures regulatory compliance with both full-disk and removable-data encryption. It encrypts each drive, sector by sector, ensuring all files are encrypted. It also supports various types of removable media. It also allows removable data users to access their data on any machine, even if its not encrypted.

BitLocker Drive Encryption is an encryption feature that works to provide your operating system and any other drives with increased protection.

Bottom Line BitLocker Drive Encryption is an encryption feature available for recent Windows operating systems and intended to increase the security surrounding your computers drives. Offering increased functionality with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), BitLocker can generate comprehensive protection for your operating system itself or for any drives that are attached to your computer. BitLocker uses encryption techniques, alongside any additional security measures you choose, to protect sensitive data from hackers.

East-tec InvisibleSecrets is a steganography and file-encryption tool that encrypts confidential file and folder structures and allows users to hide files from other users.

Bottom Line InvisibleSecrets encrypts data and files and keeps them safe for secure transfer in emails or across the internet. The file encryption lets users encrypt and hide files directly from Windows Explorer and automatically transfer them by email or via the internet. Users can also hide files in places that appear innocent, such as pictures, sound files, or webpages.

Cypherix Cryptainer is a data-encryption solution that allows users to encrypt files and protect sensitive data on their hard drives, memory sticks, or other storage media.

Bottom Line Cypherix Cryptainer is an encryption solution for Windows PCs. The software encrypts files and folders, and allows for the creation of multiple encrypted virtual hard drives. Cryptainer is offered in several versions, including the free Cryptainer LE version and a premium Cryptainer SE.

Voltage HPE SecureData Enterprise is a data-protection platform that provides end-to-end encryption for sensitive company data.

Bottom Line Voltage HPE SecureData Enterprise is a data-protection solution that allows companies to ensure that all of their sensitive data is encrypted and kept out of the hands of potentially malicious entities. The software works by continually encrypting and protecting data even as the data is being captured, processed, and stored, so that no vulnerabilities can be exploited. Voltage HPE SecureData Enterprise provides stateless key management, an extremely flexible application programming interface (API) that can integrate with nearly any application, and support for various operating systems and devices.

DriveCrypt data encryption provides secure 1344-bit disk encryption for desktop computers and laptops.

Bottom Line DriveCrypt is a disk encryption product that automatically encrypts data on desktop and laptop personal computers (PCs), as well as universal serial bus (USB) storage devices. The secure 1344-bit encryption is done automatically on the fly, so users do not have to change their workflow.

CipherShed is a free, open-source program that can be used to create encrypted files or to encrypt entire drives including universal serial bus (USB) flash drives and external hard disk drives (HDDs).

Bottom Line CipherShed is a free, open-source program intended to be used to create encrypted files or to encrypt entire drives. This includes being able to encrypt thumb/flash drives and external removable (and back-up) hard disk drives (HDDs). The program is designed to be simple to use and includes a wizard that provides simple step-by-step instructions for users to follow.

MiniLock is simple file-encryption and transfer tool that makes it easier and more convenient to securely send files from one person to another.

Bottom Line MiniLock is a miniature file-encryption and transfer solution that works toward simplifying the process of sending encrypted files from one person to another. By generating unique MiniLock identities for each user and requiring strong passphrases, MiniLock establishes multiple layers of protection to guarantee the security of your files. MiniLock makes it easy to send an encrypted file to someone through a process as simple as sharing a tweet.

Kryptel encryption software allows Windows personal computer (PC) users to encrypt and decrypt one to thousands of files and folders with a single click for secure file storage.

Bottom Line Kryptel encryption software for Windows allows users to encrypt and decrypt files and folders with just a click of the mouse. All editions also include right-click-integration with Explorers browser to look inside encrypted containers and include a data shredder with a variety of settings to increase data-wiping security during encryption and decryption. Upgraded versions add encrypted backups, script-driven encryption, and a command-line interface.

Vormetric Transparent Encryption encrypts data, enables privileged user access control, and creates activity logs.

Bottom Line Vormetric Transparent Encryption encrypts databases and files and removes data access rights from administrators. When integrated with a security information and event management system, it can generate extremely detailed reports.

Gpg4win is open-source solution that encrypts and digitally signs files and emails.

Bottom Line Gpg4win encrypts emails and files with military-grade security. You can also use it to digitally sign your messages and files. The software is open source and free to use even commercially.

Boxcryptor provides encryption for files stored within various platforms the cloud.

Bottom Line With Boxcryptor, users can encrypt any files they plan to store in a cloud-based repository (i.e., Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, or any other common cloud-storage provider). Boxcryptor provides applications for all major operating systems and mobile platforms, allowing users to access their encrypted files anywhere at any time regardless of where the files are stored.

VeraCrypt is open-source disk-encryption software (from IDRIX) that protects files and systems and prevents data leaks and data theft.

Bottom Line VeraCrypt open-source disk-encryption software adds enhanced security to the encryption algorithms used for systems and partitions. It makes systems and partitions immune to the latest developments in brute-force attacks and solves many of the security issues and vulnerabilities found in TrueCrypt.

Jeticos BestCrypt products offer comprehensive military-standard data protection for sensitive information in files and/or on hard drives.

Bottom Line Jeticos BestCrypt software products deliver military-standard data protection for active computers, shared workstations, or network storage and for lost or stolen computers and laptops.

Digital Guardian is data-centric encryption and protection software, with a wide array of tools and system coverage.

Bottom Line Digital Guardian is data-centric encryption and protection software, with a wide array of tools and system coverage. Its protection extends to your sensitive files no matter where they are on the network, endpoints, and cloud. With detailed reports on data activity and user policy enforcement, Digital Guardian will provide you with the tools and means to protect your valuable data.

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Top Encryption Software for 2016 - PCMag

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Encryption software – Wikipedia

Top Encryption Software for 2016 – PCMag

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