Encryptation

Encryption
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"Encrypt" redirects here. For the film, see Encrypt (film).
This article is about algorithms for encryption and decryption. For an overview of cryptographic
technology in general, see Cryptography. For the album by Pro-jekt, see Encryption (album).
In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding a message or information in such a way that only
authorized parties can access it and those who are not authorized cannot. Encryption does not itself
prevent interference, but denies the intelligible content to a would-be interceptor. In an encryption
scheme, the intended information or message, referred to as plaintext, is encrypted using an encryption
algorithm – a cipher – generating ciphertext that can be read only if decrypted. For technical reasons, an
encryption scheme usually uses a pseudo-random encryption key generated by an algorithm. It is in
principle possible to decrypt the message without possessing the key, but, for a well-designed
encryption scheme, considerable computational resources and skills are required. An authorized
recipient can easily decrypt the message with the key provided by the originator to recipients but not to
unauthorized users.
Contents
1 Types
1.1 Symmetric key
1.2 Public key
2 Uses
2.1 Message verification
2.2 Data erasure
3 See also
4 References
5 Further reading
6 External links
Types
Symmetric key
In symmetric-key schemes,[1] the encryption and decryption keys are the same. Communicating parties
must have the same key in order to achieve secure communication. An example of a symmetric key
scheme would be the one used by the German Enigma Machine that sent information from a central
location to troops in various other locations in secret. When the Allies captured one of these machines
and figured out how it worked, they were able to decipher the information encoded within the
messages as soon as they could discover the encryption key for a given day's transmissions.[2]
Public key
Illustration of how encryption is used within servers Public key encryption.
In public-key encryption schemes, the encryption key is published for anyone to use and encrypt
messages. However, only the receiving party has access to the decryption key that enables messages to
be read.[3] Public-key encryption was first described in a secret document in 1973;[4] before then all
encryption schemes were symmetric-key (also called private-key).[5]:478. Although published
subsequently, the work of Diffie and Hellman, was published in a journal with a large readership, and
the value of the methodology was explicitly described [6] and the method became known as the Diffie
Hellman key exchange.
A publicly available public key encryption application called Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) was written in
1991 by Phil Zimmermann, and distributed free of charge with source code; it was purchased by
Symantec in 2010 and is regularly updated.[7]
Uses
Encryption has long been used by militaries and governments to facilitate secret communication. It is
now commonly used in protecting information within many kinds of civilian systems. For example, the
Computer Security Institute reported that in 2007, 71% of companies surveyed utilized encryption for
some of their data in transit, and 53% utilized encryption for some of their data in storage.[8] Encryption
can be used to protect data "at rest", such as information stored on computers and storage devices (e.g.
USB flash drives). In recent years, there have been numerous reports of confidential data, such as
customers' personal records, being exposed through loss or theft of laptops or backup drives; encrypting
such files at rest helps protect them if physical security measures fail.[9][10][11] Digital rights
management systems, which prevent unauthorized use or reproduction of copyrighted material and
protect software against reverse engineering (see also copy protection), is another somewhat different
example of using encryption on data at rest.[12]
In response to encryption of data at rest, cyber-adversaries have developed new types of attacks. These
more recent threats to encryption of data at rest include cryptographic attacks,[13] stolen ciphertext
attacks,[14] attacks on encryption keys,[15] insider attacks, data corruption or integrity attacks,[16] data
destruction attacks, and ransomware attacks. Data fragmentation[17] and active defense[18] data
protection technologies attempt to counter some of these attacks, by distributing, moving, or mutating
ciphertext so it is more difficult to identify, steal, corrupt, or destroy.[19]
Encryption is also used to protect data in transit, for example data being transferred via networks (e.g.
the Internet, e-commerce), mobile telephones, wireless microphones, wireless intercom systems,
Bluetooth devices and bank automatic teller machines. There have been numerous reports of data in
transit being intercepted in recent years.[20] Data should also be encrypted when transmitted across
networks in order to protect against eavesdropping of network traffic by unauthorized users.[21]
Message verification
Encryption, by itself, can protect the confidentiality of messages, but other techniques are still needed
to protect the integrity and authenticity of a message; for example, verification of a message
authentication code (MAC) or a digital signature. Standards for cryptographic software and hardware to
perform encryption are widely available, but successfully using encryption to ensure security may be a
challenging problem. A single error in system design or execution can allow successful attacks.
Sometimes an adversary can obtain unencrypted information without directly undoing the encryption.
See, e.g., traffic analysis, TEMPEST, or Trojan horse.[22]
Digital signature and encryption must be applied to the ciphertext when it is created (typically on the
same device used to compose the message) to avoid tampering; otherwise any node between the
sender and the encryption agent could potentially tamper with it. Encrypting at the time of creation is
only secure if the encryption device itself has not been tampered with.
Data erasure
Main article: Data erasure

Conventional methods for deleting data permanently from a storage device involve overwriting its
whole content with zeros, ones or other patterns – a process which can take a significant amount of
time, depending on the capacity and the type of the medium. Cryptography offers a way of making the
erasure almost instantaneous. This method is called crypto-shredding. An example implementation of
this method can be found on iOS devices, where the cryptographic key is kept in a dedicated 'Effaceable
Storage'.[23] Because the key is stored on the same device, this setup on its own does not offer full
confidentiality protection in case an unauthorised person gains physical access to the device.
See also
icon Cryptography portal
Substitution cipher
Rotor cipher machines
Brute-force attack
Cold boot attack
Encrypted function
Export of cryptography
Cyberspace Electronic Security Act (US)
Disk encryption
Key management
Physical Layer Encryption
Geo-blocking
Television encryption
Active defense
Cryptography
Tokenization (data security)
References

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Encryption

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

"Encrypt" redirects here. For the film, see Encrypt (film).

1.1 Symmetric key

1.2 Public key

2.1 Message verification

2.2 Data erasure

Illustration of how encryption is used within servers Public key encryption.

Main article: Data erasure

icon Cryptography portal

Rotor cipher machines

Cold boot attack

Cyberspace Electronic Security Act (US)

Physical Layer Encryption

Tokenization (data security)

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