Why encryption should be used

But what does this actually mean? Encryption is the process of converting information or data into an indecipherable code while in transit or storage. This prevents any unauthorized access from malicious third-parties and keeps your personal information under lock and key. Far too many businesses fall victim to hackers who take advantage of easily accessible usernames and passwords.

Nowadays with modern-style encryption, data is transmitted and scrambled in such a way that it can only be decrypted by someone possessing the actual encryption key. It makes your life easier, and more importantly, makes it as hard as possible for whomever is trying to hack into your stuff. The two types of encryption are Public Key and Symmetric Key.

The private key, d , is known only to the first user. The key size is larger, making this method slower but more secure. If you want to send a secure message to the first user who created the public and private keys, you encode the message using the public key, and the recipient uses the private key to decrypt it. RSA will likely need to move to an even larger key size to make this method more secure in the future.

AES encryption is the method currently used as the standard by the US government, as well as many private organizations, and is largely considered to be one of the most secure algorithms today. To crack this algorithm, most attacks would require a level of computational power that is presently not possible to achieve. AES is a symmetric encryption algorithm that employs keys of , , and bits to encrypt and decrypt blocks of data that are bits.

The lengths of the keys exponentially increases the difficulty of deciphering the code. AES became the standard in , and the NIST reevaluates it every five years in an effort to find flaws and make improvements. Encryption is a basic, but vital, component of data privacy and security. A great many apps and websites rely on user passwords and password verification software to facilitate access to valuable data.

Businesses and government organizations that possess consumer and employee data must use, at minimum, AES encryption, as well as other tools and methods such as two-factor authentication to ensure only authorized users can access this data. And at the core of that security lies encryption. What Is Encryption and Why is it Important? How Does Encryption Work? Symmetric vs.

The U. Due to advances in technology and decreases in the cost of hardware, DES is essentially obsolete for protecting sensitive data. RSA takes its name from the familial initials of three computer scientists.

It uses a strong and popular algorithm for encryption. RSA is popular due to its key length and therefore widely used for secure data transmission. Twofish is considered one of the fastest encryption algorithms and is free for anyone to use.

This keeps attackers from accessing that data while it is in transit. You should make sure that your emails are being sent over an encrypted connection, or that you are encrypting each message. Most email clients come with the option for encryption in their Settings menu, and if you check your email with a web browser, take a moment to ensure that SSL encryption is available. Many of the large-scale data breaches that you may have heard about in the news demonstrate that cybercriminals are often out to steal personal information for financial gain.

Encryption helps businesses stay compliant with regulatory requirements and standards. It also helps protect the valuable data of their customers. For instance, targeted ransomware is a cybercrime that can impact organizations of all sizes, including government offices. Ransomware can also target individual computer users. How do ransomware attacks occur? Attackers deploy ransomware to attempt to encrypt various devices, including computers and servers. The attackers often demand a ransom before they provide a key to decrypt the encrypted data.

Ransomware attacks against government agencies can shut down services, making it hard to get a permit, obtain a marriage license, or pay a tax bill, for instance.

Targeted attacks are often aimed at large organizations, but ransomware attacks can also happen to you. Here are some tips to help protect your devices against ransomware attacks and the risk of having your data encrypted and inaccessible. November 29, By Leah Bachmann. What Is Encryption? Why Is It Important? Shopping Any reputable e-commerce site should rely on encryption provided by SSL technology. Accessing Emails Google has always offered SSL encryption , and made it their default option in Using Certain Messaging Platforms Encryption technology is also available in some messaging tools.

This process keeps the data safe from anyone but the authorized user. Join our newsletter Enter your email for updates from the LastPass Blog. Topics Security Tips , Tips and Tricks. Leave a Comment. Previous Next. Like this? Check out similar blog posts below.