Unlocking the Mystery: What is Data Encryption and How Does it Work? 🔐
Ever wondered how your sensitive information stays safe online? Let's dive into the world of data encryption and understand its inner workings, along with when to use each method and which algorithms to choose.
Data encryption is like turning readable data into a secret code, ensuring security, authenticity, and integrity. But why do we need it?
Three main reasons:
- Security: Protecting important data from exposure
- Authenticity: Ensuring only authorized individuals can access the data
- Integrity: Guaranteeing that important data hasn't been tampered with So, what are the types of data encryption?
Firstly, Symmetric Encryption:
This method uses a single key to both encrypt and decrypt data. While algorithms like Blowfish and RC4 are outdated, AES stands as today's best practice.
How does it work?
These algorithms encrypt data bit by bit, with AES dividing data into blocks and adding an Initialization Vector (IV) to generate a unique random value for each block.
But what if the key is compromised? Enter Asymmetric Encryption:
This approach involves a public key to encrypt data and a private key to decrypt it. RSA and Diffie-Hellman are popular examples, safeguarding sensitive communications like SSH connections.
But what about data modification?
Enter the third type: Hashing Functions:
These one-way encryption methods, like SHA and MD5, ensure data integrity. For example, passwords are stored as hashed values, and during login, the hashed input is compared to the stored hashed password.
So, the next time you send a sensitive message or log into your bank account, remember the invisible fortress of encryption standing guard, keeping your information safe and sound.
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