Without it, information passed on the Internet is not only available for virtually anyone to snag and read, but is often stored for years on servers that can change hands or become compromised in any number of ways. This is usually accomplished online using digital signatures or certificates.Īs more people realize the open nature of the Internet, email and instant messaging, encryption will undoubtedly become more popular. To be secure, the recipient of the data - often a server - must be positively identified as being the approved party. Strong encryption makes data private, but not necessarily secure. Asymmetric encryption is considered one step more secure than symmetric encryption, because the decryption key can be kept private. This algorithm is based around the two keys working in conjunction with each other. Once encrypted, the cyphertext cannot be decrypted except by the one who holds the private key of that key pair.
The public key can be published online for senders to use to encrypt text that will be sent to the owner of the public key. In asymmetric encryption schemes, such as RSA and Diffie-Hellman, the scheme creates a "key pair" for the user: a public key and a private key. This key both encrypts and decrypts text.
Symmetric key algorithms such as Blowfish, AES and DES, work with a single, prearranged key that is shared between sender and receiver. Some people choose to keep financial programs or other sensitive data on encrypted drives.Įncryption schemes are categorized as being symmetric or asymmetric. When finished, the drive is dismounted and returns to an encrypted state, unreadable by interlopers, Trojan horses, spyware or snoops.
In this state the drive can be used and read normally. To use the drive, it is "mounted" using a special decryption key. PGP allows one to not only encrypt email messages, but personal files and folders as well.Įncryption can also be applied to an entire volume or drive. The most longstanding of these is called PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), a humble name for very strong military-grade encryption program.
This can easily be accomplished with programs that feature plug-ins or interfaces for popular email clients. Though browsers automatically encrypt information when connected to a secure website, many people choose to use encryption in their email correspondence as well.
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