What is Encryption ?

What is Encryption ?

Encryption is the process of transforming information (plaintext) into the form that is unreadable to everyone except the one who is able to specially process it (using key). This process is done using an algorithm. Key is known to only those people for whom that encrypted message is sent.

Function of Encryption

1. Function of Encryption is to convert the data into a form which cannot be interpreted by any unauthorized user. This process is used for the security of data.
2. Function of encoding is to putting data into a specialized format for efficient transmission or storage.
3. Function of Multiplexing is to combining multiple signals for transmission over a single shared line or a media. For example, several telephone calls may be carried using one wire.

 

What is Data Encryption?

In its simplest form, data encryption consists of converting data from readable information (plain text or ordinary text) into unintelligible strings (encrypted text) using a value called encryption key.

Encryption is the process of transforming information (plaintext) into the form that is unreadable to everyone except the one who is able to specially process it

We can thus process and store data securely while preserving their confidentiality and integrity. A second important aspect of data encryption resides in the following steps followed to safely exchange keys and encrypted text in messages: the security protocol.

The data is encrypted by subjecting it to an iterative encryption algorithm (figure), to combine the plain text with the encryption key. At the end of this process, the clear data became illegible in the form of encrypted text. Of course, the encryption key must be strictly protected, and this is the most important objective of all encryption protocols.

You may think that the encryption algorithm itself should be kept secret, but this kind of secrecy goes against the security of encryption. Indeed, the encryption algorithms, although often private (proprietary), are available to the public, because it is only when the algorithms are open for inspection and testing that users trust them the most. . Therefore, the encryption key is the most valuable element in this process. 

Function of Encryption:
Function of Encryption is to convert the data into a form which cannot be interpreted by any unauthorized user. This process is used for the security of data.

Encryption Key:

An encryption key is a series of random characters, often divided into several parts or sections. In general, the longer the encryption key, the more difficult it is to decode a message by “brute force”, that is to say by trying all possible key values. This length also makes the resulting cipher text even further from the original plain text. To enhance the integrity of encryption, a common method is to have multiple authorized users each create their own part of the full encryption key. It will be understood, this fragmentation guarantees that none of them can decrypt the information on its own.

Encryption Algorithms:

Different encryption algorithms can be used depending on the data involved. There are many questions: is the information stored in a single field, or will the whole file have to be encrypted? If there is only one field, what is its size? Should data be transmitted from one system to another?

The encryption is symmetrical when the same key is used for encryption and decryption. This is generally the case for internal use. Asymmetric encryption involves a pair of keys, one for encryption and the other for decryption. In this case, one of the keys is public and the other private. This process is useful for exchanging information with other entities. The sender encrypts his data with the recipient's public key, which decrypts the resulting encrypted text using his private key, which is always kept secret. This solves the problem of having to share a secret key between parties: public keys can be published in a directory open to everyone, so that everyone can send secure messages to members of the directory.