The word encryption has become a very common usage in our daily lives, especially in the digital market. Encryption refers to the process that is used to protect data from being stolen or changed. So, readers may like to know that it scrambles data into a secret code that one can unlock using a unique digital key.
Undoubtedly, in our modern techno world, the protection of digital data has become one of the most crucial factors. Cyber security or safety is no longer a thing that you can overlook. As such, one must understand the encryption process. So, the readers here would note that one can protect the “Encrypted data” on computers or transit between them.
If we search through the history of encryption, then we will also find how it evolved throughout the ages. At the moment, it has become one of the most famous terms in the digital market with so many people using it. In fact, many big firms, or digital cloud markets use this to protect data from being breached.
This article highlights this process and how it’s one of the most important aspects to keep in mind. We shall take an in-depth look into how it works, and other details. Moreover, this article will briefly explore the rich history of encryption.
A Brief History of Encryption
If we take a look at the encryption’s history, then we find out that in the past it wasn’t the way it is today. In other words, there has been a huge change to this term over the years.
However, on a crux, it has more or less remained the same: It keeps one’s data secure. In circa 600 BC, the ancient Spartans used a scytale device to send secret codes or messages during battle.
So, we can see that the practice of protecting data isn’t something that’s prevalent now. Moreover, the readers can also think about the Roman encryption methods, especially the ones Julius Caesar invented. Julius Caesar made a cipher that shifted characters by three places in the alphabet. In other words, the A became D, while B became E. It was a pretty simple coding method that allowed one to protect one’s messages from outsiders.
Additionally, Bernardo Provenzano also used a variant of Caesar’s cipher codes. Even in the WWI and WWII, we see the usage of encryption. However, modern encryption or cryptography is a completely different thing altogether. In the early 1970s, IBM formed a crypto group that made a block cipher to protect its customer’s data. There were many variations to this, as we have seen over the years.
Nowadays, data encryption has also become extremely popular, thanks to many apps, such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and others. So, all of these use ECC from the open-source SIgntal Protocol. Since more and more services are gradually moving to the Cloud for many reasons, the importance of data encryption has become more important than ever.
How Does Encryption Work?
The encryption process encodes plaintext into ciphertext through algorithms. Thereafter, decoding the data back to the plaintext requires one to use a decryption key, a string of numbers, or a password.
Secured data has a number of digital keys through which one can open it or unlock it. In fact, a person who doesn’t have the authorization cannot access it or guess it. Also, a computer won’t be able to decipher it easily, since there are a string of characters.
So, as we know, encrypted data has a lot of possible combinations. In other words, it encases data in such a way that a computer or a person cannot decipher it in simple means. As we mentioned Caesar’s cipher before which he used in his private correspondence. A similar but more complex form is used in this digital world.
So, how to decode such data in the first place? As mentioned earlier, the recipient would need to know the key to the cipher. In fact, the modern cryptography or encryption process has become really complex with strings of hundreds or even thousands of computer-generated characters as decryption keys.
Few Types of Encryption
There are a few common types of encryption that one must know about.
1. Symmetric Encryption
It’s a shared key or private key algorithm that uses the same key for the encryption process as well as the decryption process. The best aspect of this type is that it doesn’t use much computing power to encrypt and decrypt.
2. Asymmetric Encryption
There’s another process where the computer uses public key cryptography and uses two separate keys to encrypt as well as decrypt data. It’s a bit more expensive and takes a lot of time to compute.
Conclusion
Overall, the rich history of encryption shows us how much it evolved throughout and how it still holds importance to date. Data security is a concept that’s vital even now, especially in this digital age. As such, more and more people are looking for ways to secure their data from cyber hackers using encryption methods.
