What is Encryption? – It’s Importance, Types, Benefits

What is Encryption?

Encryption usually refers to encoding information, turning it into secret code that doesn’t reveal its true meaning. The idea of cryptography in the domain of computer science is grounded on encrypting and decrypting information.

Sensitive data has been protected through encryption for a long time. It had been used by various governments and armies in the past. With encryption, data is protected today at rest and while it is in motion. Computers, including all other storage devices, house data that is at rest. The data that moves across networks and between different devices is called data in motion.

CISSP course helps you learn what is encryption. Every time a person makes an online purchase using his smartphone or conducts a transaction using an ATM, encryption secures the data in transit. Companies use encryption to keep sensitive information out of the prying eyes when unauthorized users access the data or during a data breach. Such exposures will bring a shattering effect on the organization’s brand apart from causing massive losses.

Why Encryption is Important?

• Privacy: Encryption ensures that the messages or information resting at any time are only accessible to the valid recipient or owner of the data. This protects one against hackers, ad networks, ISPs, and even governments reading private information through interception.
• Security: Prevents data breaches whether the data is at rest or in transit. Data on a business device would be secure in case of loss or theft if the hard disk is encrypted properly. Similarly, parties to an encrypted connection can share private information without much concern for data leakage.
• Data integrity: Besides, encryption prevents such malicious activities as on-path attacks. Encryption ensures that the data sent across the Internet has not been accessed or modified during transmission to the terminal point.
• Regulations: Many industry and governmental regulations, in turn, require businesses to process user data to maintain encryption. Some examples of compliance and regulatory requirements considered for encryption include GDPR, PCI-DSS, and HIPAA.

Types of Data Encryption: Asymmetric Versus Symmetric

While symmetric encryption uses one key for both encryption and decryption, asymmetric encryption, also called public key cryptography, uses two different keys for the same function. Symmetric encryption uses one key for encryption, while in asymmetric encryption, there are two keys used to enhance data security: a public key and a private key. Relatively, symmetric encryption is less secure but faster and easier to use than asymmetric encryption. If the key is compromised, then the data is readily decrypted. In contrast, with asymmetric encryption, it is more secure since the data remains safe even when one of the keys is compromised.

The speed of asymmetric encryption is quite slow and difficult to use when compared with symmetric encryption. Applications involving asymmetric encryption are mostly performed on smaller units, as it’s usually applied in digital signatures and email messages, whereas symmetric encryption is often used in the process of encrypting large amounts of data.

How Does Data Encryption Work?

The mathematical process of encryption uses a key with an encryption algorithm to change data. Consider Alice sending “Hello” to Bob where she simply replaces each letter in the message with the letter two-positions down the alphabet. Now her message reads “Jgnnq, instead of “Hello.” Thankfully for Bob, he can decrypt her message back to “Hello” since he knows the key is “2”.

Alice encoded her message to Bob using a very basic encryption technique. Further encoding scheme complexity can further scramble the message:

A party who receives encrypted data in possession of the right key can decrypt it, thereby obtaining the original message back in plaintext; this is even though encrypted data looks like indistinguishable randomness. Encryption works in a deterministic, predictable manner. If this encryption is performed correctly, then in practice, a third party should have little chance to break or brute-force decrypt the ciphertext, or to guess the key. (The method Alice used would be broken quickly.)

Encryption can occur “in transit,” or while en route to another location, or “at rest,” while being stored.

Encryption Key Management

Encryption is the process of encoding data in a ciphertext using algorithms alone. It will only be intelligible again if the individual or program that is viewing the data has the data encryption keys to decode the ciphertext. Because data encryption renders unintelligent data, it protects against theft or accidental sharing.

Control and maintenance of the encryption keys are an integral part of any data encryption plan. This is because encryption keys make it possible for a cybercriminal to reduce encrypted material back into its original state without encryption. An encryption key management system should cover the key creation, exchange, storage, usage, destruction, and replacement processes.

According to the “Pragmatic Key Management for Data Encryption” White Paper by Securosis:

• Many systems of data encryption keep the encryption keys only locally and do not bother with “real” key management – the user never has to interact with the keys directly. Very simplistic implementations produce the key as needed from the passphrase and don’t bother storing at all. 
• That clearly differs from the enterprise approach where the keys are managed actively. Key management stands for separating data and keys to enhance security and flexibility. Among many other options, you could have various keys for the same data, the same key for different files, backup and recovery keys, and many more.

The best practice is to use a specialized external key management solution. There are four 

categories:

1. One with the most advanced level of physical protection: an HSM or equivalent appliance
2. Key management virtual appliance
3. Key management software operating on a dedicated server or a virtual or cloud environment
4. Key Management Software as a Service (SaaS)

Common Encryption Algorithms

There are various types of algorithms which are used for data encryption. Some of the most widely used symmetric encryption techniques are:

• The DES, or Data Encryption Standard, was an encryption standard that emerged in the early 1970s. Later, it was adopted by the US government in 1977. Being 56 bits in length, the DES key is irrelevant today. However, it played a specific role in the development of modern cryptography, since several researchers attempted to extend its notions and develop more enhanced types of encryption.
• 3DES: This next generation of DES applied the DES cipher block three times in succession to each data block, encrypting, decrypting, and re-encrypting. This tremendously increased the key size, making the strategy considerably harder to decrypt by brute force attack.
• Advanced Encryption Standard – AES: Adopted by the US government in 2001, it, for the time being, is the most widespread encryption technique. It was developed based on the concept of a “substitution-permutation network,” with a 128-bit block cipher and keys that can be either 128, 192, or 256 bits long.
• Twofish: Also known as the most rapid symmetric encryption algorithm, Twofish is utilized both in software and in hardware. Twofish has neither become open source nor patented, but has been released freely to use however. Nevertheless, it is implemented in some well-liked software encryption packages like PGP, Pretty Good Privacy. It may be used with keys of up to 256 bits in size.

The following are the most prevalent asymmetric algorithms:

• RSA: RSA stands for the names of the three MIT researchers who first published the algorithm in 1977: Rivest-Shamir-Adelman. In many ways, RSA was one of the first few asymmetric encryption types. Factoring two prime numbers with an additional value creates the public key. RSA keys are considered expensive and computationally intensive since they can be very long. Typical sizes are 2,048 or 4,096 bits. The shared keys for symmetric encryption are often encrypted using the RSA keys.

• Elliptic Curve Cryptography: This technique is an advanced asymmetric encryption technique that utilizes elliptic curves on finite fields. While RSA and similar algorithms have gigantic keys for decent security, this method can achieve strong security with huge encryption keys using far less space and much more efficiency. For example, a 3,072-bit RSA public key and a 256-bit elliptic curve public key should give similar levels of security.

Benefits of Data Encryption

• Security and privacy

Encryption can block data breaches. If encryption is in place, the device will remain safe even if an evil attacker successfully accesses the network. In such a case, the attack would be utterly useless as any attempt on the behalf of the attacker to have access to the data. The conversations or data can only be read by the intended receiver or the owner using encryption. This prevents sensitive data from getting intercepted and infiltrated by intruders.

• Regulations

In addition, the encryption of data helps an organization to protect data securely and maintain privacy per the set standards by various industries as well as government directives. Most areas, especially those dealing with financial services and healthcare, have set clear regulations on data protection. For instance, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act needs financial institutions to notify their clients concerning the sharing and security of information. Encryption can allow financial institutions to accommodate this act.

• Secure internet use

Those who are using the Internet with encryption are also shielded from attacks. During the Internet’s early days, some hackers managed to intercept and read data in plaintext form as it was sent between users and web applications via the Hypertext Transfer Protocol or HTTP. The Transport Layer Security protocol will soon take over the Secure Socket Layer protocol used for encrypting web traffic across the HTTP. This allows publishers, e-commerce providers, and enterprises to safely and securely serve customers. Users feel much safer using encryption for transacting financials and e-commerce and entering personal information on the websites.

• Encryption keeps sensitive data protected

From video conversations to e-commerce, even to social media, encryption will always be a vital ingredient of security. It will be essentially encrypted if it is meant to be shared or stored. It would be good for businesses and individual users to remain updated about the standards of encryption to keep their personal and professional information safe from exploitation or compromise.

Potential Encryption Vulnerabilities

• Ransomware

While encryption is generally used to protect data, in some cases malicious actors are able to use it to hold data hostage. In these scenarios, actors may encrypt material that has been obtained after an organization’s security has been breached and demand payment to unencrypt it.

• Key Management

The effectiveness of encryption is drastically reduced if the cryptographic keys used for the encryption and decryption of the data are insecure. Attackers with malicious minds often exert their effort to gain access to an organization’s encryption keys. Apart from malicious actors, companies can also be cut off from essential information if their encryption keys get lost-just as in the case of a natural disaster affecting servers. This often forces an organization to use a secure key management system to store and manage their keys.

• Quantum Computing

With quantum computing, modern encryption techniques face an existential danger. Quantum computing, when ready, would have the capability to process volumes of data, which is way beyond the capabilities of traditional computers. Quantum encryption techniques should be used by every enterprise shortly in order to update their encryption methods. Quantum computing is still in its infancy and cannot currently crack current encryption protocols. Conversely, NIST supports four new “quantum resistant” algorithms which are expected to defend against attacks by quantum computers.

Encryption Solutions

• Data protection across devices

Information is always on the move. Be it money transactions or casual texting with friends. In conjunction with other security features such as authentication, encryption can provide security for data in motion while it is being transferred between servers or devices.

• Data Integrity

Encryption serves as a defense not only against unauthorized access to the plaintext of data but also against hostile actors who would use such data for modification, fraud, extortion, or theft of sensitive information.

• Protects Digital Transformations

Since more businesses and individuals are using cloud storage, encryption is necessary in order to protect data while it is being handled by applications, while it is en-route to the cloud, and once it rests on the server. Google provides a number of key management services as well as different levels of encryption.

• Helps Meet Compliance Requirements

Most data privacy and security standards require the implementation of strong encryption. These would include information about healthcare transactions under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, credit and debit card transactions under the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. 

Conclusion

Security and integrity should be ascertained, along with privacy, in sensitive data protection. It shields data in rest and in transit from unauthorized access, data breach incidents, and cyberattacks. Encryption allows organizations to comply with regulatory requirements for digital transformation protection, though these challenge key management vulnerabilities, ransomware attacks, and future quantum computing.