Modern computers are equipped with tools for encrypting data and make it unreadable for anyone without the right key. What is encryption and how does it work? This article explains the fundamentals of encryption and the ways it can help protect sensitive information from hackers.
Data encryption is the process that converts readable information into a coded form that can only be deciphered with the correct password by authorized users. It is a crucial element of cyber security that ensures privacy of data and protects sensitive information out of the hands of unauthorised users.
A common form uses mathematical models that are cryptographic to transform the original information into a jumbled set of characters (also called ciphertext). Encryption algorithms “scrambles” individual bits in a random manner to ensure that it takes a huge amount of computing power to determine the key, and then convert it to plaintext.
If you use AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), the most common encryption method, for your digital files, then each of the ones and zeros in the file is smashed 10 times in a semi random pattern. It would take a computer an extended is secureline vpn good time to reorder all the numbers into the correct order without the key.
Also, encryption is used to prevent data leaks and ransomware. Hackers who take encrypted data cannot read the data and cannot threaten the company, or the person who is involved, with the threat to release the stolen data to the dark web. The encryption also safeguards backup systems from hackers, since they cannot access the data in its original format.