Encryption software

Encryption software is software whose main purpose is to encrypt and decrypt data, usually in the form of files (or sectors), hard drives and removable media ( floppy disks , CDs , USB flash drives ), email messages or in the form of packets transmitted over computer networks.

Content

Security

Encryption software performs an algorithm that is designed to encrypt computer data in such a way that it cannot be restored without a key. Software encryption is a fundamental part of all aspects of modern computer communications and file protection and may include features such as file splitting.

The purpose of encryption is to prevent third parties from recovering the original information. This is especially important for data such as credit card numbers.

Encryption Method Choices

There are many encryption algorithms. The most popular options were presented at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) contest. The winner, Rijndael , received 86 votes, Serpent received 59 votes, Twofish 31 votes, RC6 23 votes and MARS 13 votes. NIST chose Rijndael as a model. Serpent and Rijndael are actually similar, the main difference is that Rijndael is faster and Serpent is more secure.

Select Encryption

There are several factors that affect the choice of encryption algorithm, these factors include: speed and security. The easiest way to encrypt is an XOR operation, with a constant value k , from each byte of plain text b , to obtain ciphers of the value c .

b XOR k = c

Ciphers can be divided into two main types: asymmetric encryption keys and symmetric encryption keys.

Asymmetric keys - are a key pair, as they consist of two keys: private and public. Asymmetric key systems are based on algorithms that are “one-way” operations. That is, encryption with one of the members of a key pair can be restored (decrypted) only with the help of another member of the pair. In addition, one of the members of the pair (public key) cannot be used to determine the other (private key). Such systems are used for key exchange (for subsequent use of symmetric cipher keys), digital signatures and the like.

Symmetric cipher keys are so named because the same key is used for both encryption and decryption. Thus, in order for messages to be encrypted with a symmetric key to be safe, the key used must remain secret. The symmetric cipher key is divided into a stream cipher and a block cipher .

Stream ciphers usually encrypt small-sized text (bit or byte) at a time and are most often used to encrypt real-time communications (audio and video data). This key is used to set the initial state of the key stream generator; the generator code is used to encrypt plain text.

Block cipher algorithms can only encrypt one block of bytes with text at a time. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES - a derivative of the Rijndael encryption algorithm) is a block cipher that processes 16 bytes at a time, while its predecessor, Data Encryption Standard algorithm (DES) encrypted blocks of eight bytes.

A common mistake made by encryption lovers is the assumption that if the method is secret, then the cipher is safe. This is usually not the case. Many encryption algorithms show a key quite easily when a string of identical bytes (for example, zeros) is detected.

The method will be good in that, while not being a secret, it will remain safe.

Applications

Encryption can be applied to data in many ways. General categories:

Network Transport Encryption Tools

Encryption tools

biternal Enigma Encryption

Each of these categories determines the range and location of the data to be encrypted, but for each, the process is the same.

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