Encryption is Data Protection, Let's Take a Look at How It Works!
Encryption is Data Protection, Let's Take a Look at How It Works!
Ever heard of the term encryption? Encryption is a process to turn human-readable plaintext into incomprehensible text that can only be understood by the system, making it unreadable by humans. The resulting text from encryption is called ciphertext. Encryption is often used to secure data such as information or messages. Its purpose is to maintain security and prevent unauthorized parties from knowing the contents of the message you send.
When unauthorized parties attempt to discover the contents of your message, they will only see random, incomprehensible text. Without encryption technology, your conversations and personal information could be spread anywhere. Encryption plays a significant role in cybersecurity, acting as the primary defense for data. Many cybercrime activities, such as brute force attacks, attempt to break through encryption to obtain data illegally.
What is Encryption?
As mentioned earlier, encryption is the process of scrambling data so that it can only be understood by certain individuals. Data scrambling in encryption isn't entirely random; it uses a cryptographic key, a string of characters in the encryption algorithm that can turn data into randomness. This cryptographic key contains a set of mathematical values agreed upon by the sender and receiver of the encrypted message. This is what locks the data (encryption) but still allows it to be unlocked (decryption) by certain parties.
What are the Benefits of Encryption?
Encryption technology has many benefits in its usage. Here are some of them:
- Preserves user privacy: Encryption works by scrambling data, making it incomprehensible to others, thus preserving user data privacy.
- Protects application communication channels: Encryption is crucial for messaging applications like WhatsApp to safeguard user privacy by ensuring that only authorized parties can access private chats.
- Digital signatures: Encryption is also utilized for digital signatures, ensuring that only specific individuals can understand encrypted statements after decryption.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Encryption
Alongside its advantages, encryption also comes with disadvantages. If the recipient loses the key or decryptor needed for decryption, the encrypted information cannot be read or restored.
Advantages of Using Encryption:
- Provides users with a sense of security and comfort.
- Enhances the confidentiality of information.
- Minimizes the risk of eavesdropping.
- Prevents data leaks.
Disadvantages of Using Encryption:
- Loss of the decryption key renders the information unreadable and irretrievable.
How Encryption Works for Data Security
Encryption is differentiated by the encryption key used, namely symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption.
- Symmetric Encryption: This type of encryption uses the same key for both data locking and unlocking processes. It's less complex and suitable for transmitting large amounts of data securely.
- Asymmetric Encryption: Also known as public-key cryptography, asymmetric encryption utilizes two related keys: a public key for encrypting messages, accessible to everyone, and a private key for decrypting messages, accessible only to the key owner. It's more complex but offers stronger security compared to symmetric encryption.
In summary, encryption is a way to protect your data from unauthorized individuals. While it offers significant advantages, it also carries the risk of misuse and can potentially facilitate criminal activities.
Data security is crucial, especially when dealing with highly sensitive information that concerns the interests of many people. With advanced technologies like today's, many unauthorized parties seek to exploit data for personal gain without considering the consequences.
With Brick, you need not worry about data security in your business or company. At Brick, security is our top priority. We implement world-class data security, employing a three-point failure system with industry-standard encryption to safeguard user data. We utilize a combination of RSA 4096-bit and AES 256-bit keys for encryption purposes. Learn more with the Brick team.
