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Crypt Keeper The Role of Encryption on the Internet Encryption used to be largely a military tool until the advent of the Internet. Today however, even the average person is aware of encryption due to the increased use of online marketing, banking, and healthcare and other services. Encryption refers to algorithmic schemes that encode plain text into non-readable form, which is called cyphertext. This provides privacy for the sender. The receiver of the encrypted text then uses a key to decipher the message, which returns the encrypted message to the original text. The key is the trigger mechanism to the algorithm and allows the receiver to decrypt the message.
When connected to a secure server, which is evident by a web address that begins with https, web browsers will encrypt text automatically.
The server decrypts the text when it arrives, but as the information travels between computers, anyone who may be listening in to the transmission would only see unreadable gibberish if it were to be intercepted.
Not all types of encryption are reliable, although there are many different kinds. Computers that yield strong encryption can also be used to break weaker encryption schemes. At first a 64-bit encryption was thought of as quite strong, however today the standard is 128-bit encryption and it is expected to change again in the future as hackers become more and more skilled and computers become more powerful.
Many people choose to use encryption in the email correspondence, as well as through browsers to ensure their privacy. Encryption programs that feature plug-ins or interfaces are easy ways to accomplish this, and the most well known of these programs is called PGP. This is a military grade encryption program that stands for Pretty Good Privacy, and allows you to not only encrypt email messages, but personal files and folders as well.
Encryption can also be used on an entire volume or drive, which helps some people who choose to keep their financial programs or other sensitive data on encrypted drives. The drive is mounted using a special decryption key, and in this state the drive can be used and read normally. When it is finished, the drive is removed and returns to an encrypted state, which is unreadable by Trojan horses, spyware, snoops, or interlopers and keeps your information safe.
There are two different ways to categorize encryption schemes. These are symmetric, or asymmetric. Symmetric key algorithms such as DES, AES, and Blowfish, work with one prearranged key that they share between the sender and the receiver. This key encrypts as well as decrypts text. In asymmetric schemes, such as RSA and Diffie-Hellman, a key pair is created for the users, which are a public and a private key. The public key is able to be published online so that senders can use it to encrypt text that will be sent to the owner of the public key. The cyphertext cannot be decrypted once it has been encrypted, except by the person who has the private key of that key pair. This algorithm only works when the two keys are working together. Asymmetric encryption is thought to be one step more secure than symmetric encryption due to the fact that the decryption key can be kept private.
Data is made private, but not always secure when strong encryption is used. To make it secure, the recipient of the data, which is usually a server, must be positively identified as being the approved one. This can be accomplished by using digital signatures or certificates.
People are realizing that the Internet is an open system where data and information passed is available to virtually anyone to read or snag, and if often stored on servers for years that can change hands or become compromised without the use of encryption. This is why encryption is essential for any Internet user.
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