These days, virtually everyone has a computer or a smartphone. And while they do make our lives much easier on a daily basis, facilitating everything from shopping to airline reservations, the technology can be fraught with risks and security threats. In fact, according to a report by USA Today, 2018 saw billions of people affected by data breaches, with attacks up 47% in the second quarter alone.
These breaches and cyber attacks happen everyplace from banking websites to gas station pumps, necessitating ever more stringent security measures.
Encryption is one of the most important ways that industries endeavor to keep your data and personal information safe, by providing end-to-end protection of data transmitted across digital networks.
What is Encryption?
In the world of technology and computing, encryption is defined as the method by which plain text (or other type of raw data) is converted from a normal, readable structure to an encoded version. This encoded version of the data can be read and interpreted by another party only if they have access to a decryption key.
All private user information being sent between a browser and a server should be subject to encryption – including passwords, payment information and other personal information. Increasingly, companies and individuals alike are utilizing this technology to keep sensitive data stored on computers and mobile devices protected as well.
Depending on the industry, there are a number of standards which are either recommended or required when sensitive data is processed, in order to prevent unauthorized third parties from accessing or cyber criminals to access the data. As an example, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard requires retailers to encrypt client payment card data – both when stored or transmitted.
These protocols also provide key authentication benefits, such as verifying the origin of a message, providing proof that the contents of a message have not been changed or alter3ed since it was originally sent, and bars the sender of a message from denying they are the source of the message.
How Encryption Technology Works
Unencrypted data, often referred to as plaintext, is encrypted using an algorithm and an encryption key. These keys are essentially a collection of unique algorithms which are able to scramble and unscramble data.
The resulting “ciphertext” is scrambled and unintelligible. It can only be read in its original form if decrypted with the correct key. Decryption simply reverses the same steps used to encode the data, but reversing the order in which the keys are applied. The process can utilize a symmetric (or single key) system, or an asymmetric (double key) system.
Symmetric – or private key – cryptography is one of most established encryption methods. The key utilized to encrypt and decrypt data must remain private as anyone with access to it can read the coded messages. A sender encodes a message into ciphertext using a key, and the receiver uses the same key to decode it.
Asymmetric – or public key – cryptography utilizes two keys, a “private” key and a “public key.” The application of dual keys addresses a major weakness in symmetric key cryptography, since a single unique key does not need to be securely managed among multiple users. In asymmetric encryption, a public key is used to encrypt messages before sending them, but a private key remains with the receiver of the scrambled messages, who uses it to decrypt them.
Do I Need to Encrypt My Data?
Chances are that as a small business owner, you are already encrypting your data by virtue of the applications you use in your organization. Still, it is never a bad idea to review how your business receives, stores and transmits private information.
At Alliance IT, we can help you to perform a technology review, and to implement any addition encryption procedures which can protect you and your clients. For more information on how to best keep your company secure, give us a call today. Our managed services professionals are happy to help.
