How Does Data Encryption Work?

by Shawn Deny Internet Marketing Manager

For most people the word ‘encryption’ might stir up action movie fantasies where the main character has to insert the right code into the computer in order to save the world. But the reality of encryption is totally based in science and has more to do with making things secure rather than making them explode like they do in the movies.

From your smart phones to the computer resting on your desk, almost every technological device uses some form of encryption. But how does encryption really work?

Encryption

Encryption is basically the evolved form of cryptography. Its basic function is to allow you to hide your information from others. A complex algorithm (called Cipher) is used to turn plain text into a series of seemingly random characters (Cipher text). Only those possessing the decryption key would be able to turn the cipher text into plain text again in order to read it normally.

Two methods of encryption are widely used.

· Public Key Encryption

Also called asymmetric encryption, this method utilizes the recipient’s keys along with a mathematically matching private key. The public key is used for the encryption of the cipher text, while the private key can be used to turn the cipher text back into the readable plain text. If the recipient wishes to send a message to the original sender then they will require an additional public key to encrypt their message.

· Private Key Encryption

Also called symmetric encryption, it is pretty similar to public encryption in a way that you would still be required to use keys. But this time, they would both be the same. Meaning that both the sender and the receiver could encrypt and decrypt messages utilizing their private key without needing the additional public key.

Is Encryption Safe?

Complicated and sophisticated algorithms, along with larger key sizes, are used in modern algorithm. It is done to conceal the encrypted data. You see, the thing with key sizes is that the larger they are, the more combinations they are likely to have. Hackers use brute force attack which essentially tries out every combination till it gets the right one to decrypt the cipher text. Meaning that the larger your key is, the more time it would take to crack. Let’s take 128-bit for example. The brute force attack would have to try out 339,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 possible key combinations to get the right key. Even the fastest computer ever would take over 1 million years to guess the correct key using the brute force attack.

So to answer the question, yes, encryption is safe and it works. The very act of trying to break an encryption is super expensive because you will have to use resources like energy usage, computation cost and time. And modern encryption methods make the whole point moot anyway.

When is the Best Time to Use Encryption?

Encryption is used to protect sensitive data and to maintain your privacy, meaning that you can use it for just about any purpose. Since most people are turning to cloud backup services to store their data, you might want to get software that allows you to encrypt the data on your end before putting it out there. CloudBacko is generally known as the best cloud backup software and offers you 256-bit truly randomized key encryption which allows you to encrypt files and filenames. The software offers many more features which you can check out at http://www.cloudbacko.com/