Cybersecurity plays an important role in ensuring that unauthorized individuals cannot access your data. By encrypting your data, your information will be safe from the wrong hands.
Not all encryption is the same, however, and some types are more secure or practical than others. The most common ones include RSA, AES, and DES. Below, we’ll delve a bit deeper into these main types of encryption to give you a better understanding of the options available when it comes to protecting your data.
RSA Encryption
An acronym for “Rivest-Shamir-Adleman” encryption, this technique is commonly used to safeguard data that is sent online, and it usually utilizes public and private keys. If you are on the receiving end, you will have a private key that will be used to decode the message sent by the other party. Through RSA encryption, information can be sent between two different parties who don’t know each other. It’s perfect if both parties need to communicate while ensuring their sensitive data does not fall into the wrong hands because of a data breach.
If you want to make RSA encryption a part of your routine, you should first understand the basics. For some people, this encryption technique can be used to verify a digital signature. It will allow you to be sure that the person you are communicating with is who they say they are. This encryption technique can take a while to encrypt data, so it is not advisable for large files.
AES Encryption
Advanced Encryption Standard or AES is among the most secure encryption types commonly used today. Security organizations and the government usually use this encryption type to ensure the communication from one person to another is classified. AES utilizes key encryption that is symmetric, and the party on the receiving end usually receives a key to decode the sent data.
With AES encryption, the data is encrypted into a single block. The size of the blocks varies, and there are different rounds for each encryption method. The rounds entail changing the plaintext data into ciphered text.
The majority of data tools present in the market today utilize AES data encryption. While it’s still possible to use other methods, AES is highly recommended. It can be used in different applications, and for its price, the encryption method is secure and widely accepted.
DES Encryption
Short for Data Encryption Standard, DES is a standard encryption form that was formulated during the 1970s. Currently, it is not considered secure enough by today’s standards. It can only encrypt 56-bits of data, and it can be easily hacked. Despite some of these issues, this encryption method served as the basis for more encryption tools that would build on top of its foundation.
A more modern take on DES is Triple Data Encryption Standard, which uses three 56-bit keys instead of just one. The only issue with 3DES is that it will take a considerable amount of time to encrypt the data. And although the shorter blocks have been encrypted three times, hackers can still access the secured information.
Additional Encryption Types
There are additional encryption tools present in the market, such as the so-called “fishes.” These tools use a different type of technology to encrypt data, and they are common among programmers and web developers. They also come in handy when protecting passwords. These encryption techniques are not patented, so they can be used for free by any interested party.
Conclusion
As a consumer, you don’t need to worry about understanding everything that encryption entails. Just make sure you are familiar with the basics so that you can select security and privacy products that will suit your needs.
