Encrypting a file or other information stored in a computer means converting it into a secret code and it can’t be used or understood until it is decoded or decrypted. you might want to encrypt the files that contained a secret formula for a new invention, or some financial plans that your competitors would love to know about them in advance. When you encrypt something then the computer asks you to create a password. After that, no one will be able to know about the information unless they have the same password. Encryption hides your data from unauthorized third-party users. This is the process of encoding data which prevents the data from viewing or modifying by an unauthorized person.
The main features of data encryption are :
-It Prevents unwanted access to documents and email messages.
-It provides Strongest levels of encryption that are very difficult to break.
Process and Types of Encryption
The process of data encryption consists of different steps. In the process of data encryption data passes through a mathematical formula called an algorithm, which converts the data into encrypted data known as cipher text. These algorithms create a key and encapsulate the message with the key.
There are two types of encryption : Asymmetric and Symmetric.
Asymmetric Encryption
In public key asymmetric encryption two keys that are mathematically-related are used: one is used to encrypt the message and the other is used to decrypt it. These two keys are combined to form a key pair. Asymmetric encryption provides data encryption as well as validation of the communicating parties identities and is more secure than symmetric encryption, but it is computationally slower than the Symmetric encryption .
A public key encryption scheme has six major parts:
Plain text – It is the text message to which an algorithm is applied for the encryption .
Encryption Algorithm – Encryption Algorithm that performs mathematical operations for substitutions and transformations of the plain text.
Public and Private Keys – It is a pair of keys where one is used for encryption and the second one is used for decryption.
Cipher text – It is the encrypted or scrambled message which is produced by using the algorithm to the plain text message using key.
Decryption Algorithm – Decryption algorithm creates the cipher text and the matching key to create the plaintext.
The Encryption Process.
The asymmetric data encryption process has the following steps:
-First step in the process of encryption is to convert the text to a pre-hash code. Pre-hash code is produced by using a mathematical formula.
-Pre-hash code is encrypted by the software which uses the sender’s private key.
-The private key would be produced using the algorithm used by the software.
-Pre-hash code and message are encrypted again using the private key of sender.
-The next step is for the message sender to retrieve the public key of the person this information that is intended for.
-The sender encrypts the secret key with the receiver’s public key so that only the recipient can decrypt it with his or her private key.
The Decryption Process : The asymmetric data decryption process has the following steps –
-The receiver uses his or her private key to decrypt the secret key.
-The recipient uses their private key with the secret key to decipher the encrypted pre-hash code the encrypted message.
-The receiver then retrieves the sender’s public key. This public key is used to decrypt the pre-hash code as well as to verify the sender’s identity.
-The recipient create a post-hash code from the message. If the pos ~ -hash code is equals the pre-hash code, then this verifies that the message is not changed.
Symmetric Encryption
Private Key encryption Symmetric, also known as conventional or single-key encryption. This is based on secret key that is shared by both communicating parties. It enquires all the parties that are communicating to share a common key . The sending party uses the secret key as the part of the mathematical operation to encrypt the text to cipher text. The receiving person use the same secret key to decrypt the cipher text to the plain text.
Following are the Symmetric encryption schemes : RSA RC4 algorithm that provides the basis for Microsoft Point-to-Point Encryption , Data Encryption Standard ,the International Data Encryption Algorithm , the Skipjack encryption technology which is proposed by the United S12.
An encryption scheme has five major parts:
Plain text – It is the text message to which an algorithm is applied for encryption.
Encryption Algorithm – It performs mathematical operations for substitutions and transformations to the plaintext.
Secret Key – It is the input for the algorithm as the key provides the encrypted result.
Cipher text – It is the encrypted message generated by applying the algorithm to the plaintext message by using the secret key.
Decryption Algorithm – It is the reverse of the encryption algorithm . It uses the cipher text, and the secret key to generate the plaintext message.
When you are using this form of encryption, it is necessary that the sender and recipient have a secure way to exchange secret keys. If someone knows about the secret key and can figure out the algorithm, communication between the sender and receiver will become insecure. Also there is a need of a strong encryption algorithm . This means that if someone have the cipher text and the corresponding plaintext message, they will not be unable to determine the encryption algorithm. There are two ways of attacking conventional encryption – brute force and cryptanalysis. Brute force is just as it sounds and used a method to find all possible combinations and eventually can find the plaintext message. Cryptanalysis is that form of attack which attacks the characteristics of an algorithm to deduce a specific plaintext. One will be then able to find out the plaintext for all past and the future messages that continue to use this compromised setup.