Encryption

Encryption

1. The best way to protect data from hackers is encrypting it

   • Encryption means altering data so that it can not be read by anyone other than the intended recipient

2. Plaintext is encrypted using a key to produce ciphertext

   • Cracking encryption is the act of obtaining the plaintext from ciphertext without the key
     • A good cipher is one that is difficult to crack
     • One method of cracking a cipher is to use brute force
       • In this method you try every possible key until the output makes sense
       • You can use a statistical attack, this is when you look at what each letter is likely to be.

3. Modern encryption methods used to encrypt a business’ data and securely transfer information on line uses complex mathematics to combine a key and the data to produce the ciphertext

   • The longer the key the more difficult to crack