{"id":163,"date":"2023-04-10T13:42:01","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T13:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dataprot.net\/?p=163"},"modified":"2023-05-05T13:10:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T13:10:00","slug":"what-is-encryption-software","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dataprot.net\/articles\/what-is-encryption-software\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Encryption Software?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
It’s a tool to keep your stored data safe from prying eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Confidence in the internet is on the decline. Our privacy and personal data are at constant risk of falling into the hands of online snoopers who are often acting on behalf of corporations and security agencies. This is especially concerning when we are exchanging financial information or other sensitive files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The solution is simple. Encrypt your data. Today, there are many ways to encrypt files before sending them out, often requiring nothing more than a simple piece of software. So, what is encryption software? Read on to find out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Encryption is a way to keep data that you send and receive over the internet safe and confidential. That can include passwords, credit card information, discussions with your work colleagues, or just family pictures being forwarded to friends and relatives. Keeping these files out of the wrong hands requires encryption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Encryption involves the use of mathematical algorithms that are used to encode user data so that only intended recipients can access the contents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Data encryption software transforms originally legible information into a massive series of what might look like a completely garbled mess. This is also called a ciphertext because your computer is using a unique cipher algorithm to obfuscate the information. Every single letter and number is converted using this algorithm before being transferred over the network to the recipient. The messages are encrypted based on the set of keys. The computer uses a public key for the initial encryption, but your own private key is the only way to decrypt and access the contents of the message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does this get us closer to answering what is encryption software? In many ways, it does. The encryption works through a piece of software that converts so called plaintext into ciphertext. Therefore, software for encryption is a tool that does all this heavy lifting automatically, engaging cipher keys to both encrypt and decrypt any kind of data we want to transfer securely. These are not always separate apps. In fact, most of the time you won\u2019t be launching an encryption utility. Instead, the software you\u2019re using to send a message will provide its own encryption under the hood. The best software does all of this without the user ever needing to bother with the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now that we know what encryption is, let\u2019s look at encryption utilities and what they actually do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First of all, a separate software to decrypt encrypted files isn\u2019t necessary because a single program can do both operations. Furthermore, many encryption types are compatible with different pieces of decryption software. As such, your coworkers won\u2019t have to get a specific utility to access the files you sent them as long as they have access to the private key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The journey of your message through an encryption program begins with a key. Of course, that\u2019s not a physical key but a long string of ones and zeroes. An algorithm generates a unique key based on which the data is scrambled. These keys might be used for both encryption and decryption, but in recent years these are generated separately to improve security. Of course, the more complex the key is, the harder it is to crack. Hence, more complex encryption algorithms are being introduced by the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is encryption software doing at this point and how? It involves bits and a lot of them. A bit can have either a value of 1 or a value of 0. So, for example, a 5-bit encryption key can be 10101. But that\u2019s too easy to crack, so it needs to be longer. It\u2019s estimated that a 60-bit key can take up to 34 years to crack by running a script that tries every possible combination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Modern software encryption, including those available on popular mobile apps, operate with 128-bit keys. Computer encryption software that governments, banks and other highly important organizations use is even more sophisticated, operating with 192-bit and even 256-bit encryption keys. The latter is now most commonly used for highly sensitive data and is impossible to crack. Breaking this encryption would require five supercomputers and a thousand years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once the key is generated, the encryption utility processes all the data packets using that key, which is also known as a public key. The data is then fired away to the recipient along with the key. When the message reaches its destination, the encryption tools on the recipient\u2019s end work through the data using the private key. Your own key is never shared, and it also works as a sort of proof of identity of the recipient. It communicates with the public key, requesting access and finally decrypting the message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This method is also called end-to-end or asymmetric encryption. It has been growing in popularity ever since it was introduced as a more secure, reliable solution for safe data transfer. But regardless of which method is being used, encryption programs are fully capable of processing the data with ease. However, the expected arrival of quantum computing is expected to put current encryption mechanisms at ris<\/a>k.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although symmetric key encryption is more secure than sending messages without any encryption, it has one major flaw. Data in transit can be intercepted. And if only one key is used, snoopers could get hold of your information before it reaches its destination. Therefore, top encryption software and messaging apps use pairs of keys to avoid any potential harm to users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this case, even if hackers were to steal the data, they wouldn\u2019t be able to access it without a private key, which is only available on the recipient\u2019s device. This is how many PDF encryption software solutions work (Locklizard being a great example). They use a public key technology that enables you to encrypt PDF files without passwords<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are various encryption types. Some are fast, and others are complex. But the two main branches are characterized by the distribution of the keys.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTypes of Encryption<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Symmetric Encryption<\/h3>\n\n\n\n