In today’s world, cybersecurity should be one of the main conversational topics. After all, we are all into internet banking, keeping our financial data online, and storing personal information or documents on cloud services. And the one thing that is keeping all of those safe from cybercriminals is encryption. Large companies and businesses rely on it because it does the work.
People use encryption daily without even realizing it. It is a massive part of our online lives. Did you know that passwords are a type of encryption, as well as your VPN app? So it might be beneficial to learn the basics of the different encryptions.
What is Encryption?
Essentially, encryption will turn data into code. Nobody can access the converted data unless they have a key. Of course, authorized people can view it because they have the previously mentioned key. Anyone else shouldn’t be able to read the encrypted file. However, persistent cybercriminals might be able to break in.
The perfect example of this is the NordVPN breach that happened in March 2018. This company uses encryption to hide its users’ traffic. A hacker managed to breach a server and see the websites people were visiting while using this VPN provider. The said attacker did steal an encryption key, but it seems like they didn’t use it.
Overall, encryption is here to secure your personal information as well as files. It prevents cybercriminals from taking a look into our personal lives, stealing login information, and so on. There are several types of encryption you should know about because they are a part of our daily routine. Businesses and services use them according to legal obligations or simply because they think it is suitable for their line of work. Plus, it is good to know which type of encryption can be easily hacked.
Types of Encryption
There are many different types of encryption available, but it is best to cover the most popular ones. That would be AES, RSA, and DES. While these are the most common types, the world of encryption is evolving rapidly. The security is getting better and better. Of course, hackers will always be working around the clock to get past the encryption. After all, encrypted data is valuable. So let’s dive in!
AES encryption
The Advanced Encryption Standard, also known as AES, was developed by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. Therefore, it is regarded as one of the best encryption algorithms. After all, governments favor AES, and that has to mean something.
This encryption is unique because it encrypts data in blocks, one at a time and not in bits. The key length varies from 128-bit to 256-bit. Each of these has rounds that convert a file into an encrypted piece of data. As an example, a 128-bit block has ten rounds.
RSA Encryption
Rivest–Shamir–Adleman, or RSA, is undoubtedly the best form of encryption available at the moment. It works with two keys. One is the public one that encrypts the data, and the other is the private key for decryption.
The algorithm itself is impressive since it uses a 1024-bit key length that can go up to 2048-bit. Of course, the encryption process might be slower if you choose the latter. The key’s length is why hackers quickly give up on finding a way around this encryption.
Triple DES encryption
DES or Data Encryption Algorithm was a staple in the 1970s. It wasn’t exceptionally safe back then, but this type of encryption is the basis of the Triple DES. The original DES used 56-bit keys, but the newer version added more layers. Therefore, Triple DES uses three 56-bit keys.
Even though you can still find banks and financial organizations that use Triple DES, it is slowly becoming obsolete. This encryption isn’t super safe, and the process of encrypting lasts way too long. Not to forget that cybercriminals can hack it quickly.