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Data leaks occur when sensitive data is unintentionally exposed from within an organization. Data leaks can refer to both the leakage of digital data, meaning anything that can be transmitted through the internet, as well as...
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Published on February 16, 2023
Published on February 16, 2023
Written by Teresa Rothaar
Encryption technology is vital to securely sharing information over the internet. An estimated 1.145 trillion MB of data is created every day, and encryption prevents sensitive information from being intercepted, read or altered by the wrong recipients.
Not sure what encryption is or how it works? Keep reading to learn more about data encryption, its purpose and benefits.
What is Data Encryption?
In cybersecurity, data encryption is the conversion of data from a readable format into ciphertext, which consists of blocks of random characters that neither human readers nor computers can make sense of until it’s been decrypted using an encryption key—a random string of bits used to decrypt the data back into its original form.
The purpose of encryption is to ensure that sensitive data isn’t stolen, read or altered by an unauthorized user. Data must be encrypted both in transit (e.g., login credentials being transmitted through a login form) and at rest (e.g., the emails sitting in your inbox).
What is the Purpose of Data Encryption?
Data encryption helps ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data at rest and in transit. This is commonly known as the CIA triad:
- Confidentiality — Data confidentiality focuses on an organization’s efforts to ensure that data can only be viewed by authorized parties. For example, in the United States, HIPAA regulations stipulate that only certain people, under specific circumstances, can view patients’ health records.
- Integrity — Data integrity focuses on ensuring that data is accurate, complete and consistent. In other words, it hasn’t been altered or deleted by an unauthorized party. For example, when you send an email, data integrity measures ensure that nobody intercepts and alters it along the way.
- Availability — Data availability is about ensuring that data is available to the end users who need it, when they need it. For example, a doctor must be able to pull up a patients’ health records as needed.
Can Encrypted Data be Hacked?
Theoretically, it is possible to hack encrypted data. However, doing so is incredibly difficult and requires a lot of time, effort, technical knowledge and computing power. The easiest way to “hack” encrypted data is to compromise the decryption key, which is why it’s so important for users to store their decryption keys securely and only share them with authorized recipients.
Common Types of Data Encryption
The two main types of encryption widely used today are symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption (aka public key cryptography).
Symmetric Encryption
In symmetric encryption, the same cryptographic key is used to both encrypt a plaintext message and decrypt the ciphertext. Anyone seeking to transfer the key to another recipient must find a secure delivery method to do so.
Asymmetric Encryption
Asymmetric encryption uses a key pair. One key is used for encryption while another is used for decryption. One key is called the private key and must be kept secret by the owner. The other key is the public key, and it’s shared freely with authorized recipients. Asymmetric encryption makes it very difficult for an unauthorized user to access the encrypted data since it can only be decrypted with the correlating private key.
Encryption Algorithms
Some of the most popular encryption algorithms include:
- AES — The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is widely considered the strongest level of encryption available today. It is virtually unbreakable and is the current encryption standard for most government and private sector IT security purposes. In 2001, AES was selected as the U.S. government security standard. Keeper uses AES-256 bit as part of its multi-layer encryption security model.
- Triple DES — Officially known as the Triple Data Encryption Algorithm (TDEA or Triple DEA), Triple DES was created as an alternative to the original Data Encryption Standard (DES) algorithm, which cyberattackers eventually learned how to crack. It is no longer considered strong enough for modern cryptography and has been replaced by AES.
- RSA — RSA is a public-key encryption algorithm and is considered the standard for encrypting data sent over the Internet. RSA is an asymmetric algorithm and uses a pair of keys: a public key to encrypt a message and a private key to decrypt it.
Benefits of Using Encryption Technology for Data Protection
The fundamental purpose of data encryption is to prevent unauthorized users from accessing sensitive data at rest and in transit. However, in addition to ensuring the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data, encryption technology offers other benefits:
Compliance with Data Protection Regulations
Many regulatory and industry compliance frameworks require organizations to encrypt data at rest and in transit. For example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, better known as HIPAA, requires healthcare providers to encrypt electronic protected health information (ePHI).
While the GDPR doesn’t specifically require organizations to encrypt consumer data, GDPR Article 32 (1) requires data controllers and processors to “implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk.” Therefore, if an organization does not encrypt their data, and a breach occurs, they risk EU data protection authorities penalizing them for not taking “appropriate” measures to prevent data breaches.
Remote Work Protection
Encryption adds a layer of data security to today’s distributed workplaces. According to Keeper’s 2022 US Census Report, 40% of respondents highlighted remote and hybrid work as a top cybersecurity concern. With the influx of remote workers and digital nomads, organizations should be brushing up on the top cybersecurity hygiene practices for remote employees.
Increased Consumer Trust
Security is a top priority when organizations evaluate Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers. Customer data was listed as the top encryption priority among enterprises surveyed in Entrust’s 2021 Global Encryption Trends Report. However, only 42% of respondents use encryption to secure their customer data.
How Keeper Secures Data with AES 256-Bit Encryption
Keeper is a zero-trust, zero-knowledge security provider that uses AES 256-bit encryption to protect data from cyberthreats. Organizations such as banks and governments use AES encryption, as it is considered virtually unbreakable. This ensures that our customers enjoy the highest levels of data security available today.
Register for your 14-day free business trial to see how Keeper can protect you and your organization from data breaches and cyberattacks. Get in touch with a member of our team for more information on how our services can protect your company’s passwords, secrets and connections with zero-trust and zero-knowledge security.
