Encryption In Network Security

What is encryption?

Data encryption transforms understandable data (such as text, emails, messages, etc.) into incomprehensible data. This method was developed as the value of data security has recently increased. In essence, encryption hides the information’s true meaning by using a secret code. Cryptography is used to encrypt and decrypt data. In computers, encrypted data is referred to as "ciphertext," whereas unencrypted data is referred to as "plaintext." The mathematical formulas used to encrypt and decrypt messages are referred to as ciphers and encryption algorithms, respectively.

Why is encryption important for network security?

In order to secure a wide range of information technology (IT) assets, encryption is crucial. It offers the following:

1. The content of the message is encoded for confidentiality.

2. Authentication establishes a message’s provenance.

3. Integrity establishes that a message’s contents have not been altered after it was transmitted.

4. Thanks to nonrepudiation, senders cannot claim they did not send the encrypted message.

Encryption Techniques Used in Network security::

There are numerous encryption techniques that differ in the key utilized (Symmetric or Asymmetric), key length, and size of the data blocks encrypted.

1. Triple DES —The Data Encryption Standard (DES) algorithm was later made rather easy to break, hence Triple DES was created to take its place. At one point, the industry’s most popular symmetric algorithm and the one that was generally regarded as the standard was Triple DES. The three separate keys of Triple DES each have a length of 56 bits. Although the entire key length is 168 bits, experts contend that a key strength of 112 bits is more accurate. Despite being gradually phased out, the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) has largely taken the place of Triple DES.

2. RSA is a widely used encryption technology to secure data transmission over the internet. It employs both public and private keys and is an asymmetric key encryption technique. The RSA algorithm is based on the factorization of the product of two prime numbers.

3. Twofish: The keys for this method, which employs symmetric key encryption, are 256 bits long. Twofish is still widely used in file and folder encryption software programs.

4. The modern encryption standard, AES (Advanced encryption standard), is trusted by many reputable organizations. It has 128-bit, 192-bit, and 256-bit encryption capabilities. AES is currently the most popular symmetric encryption algorithm.

Privacy features:

On the internet, there are five privacy elements that must be preserved. Email, files, audio, chat, and traffic privacy is among them.

LastPass — Strong and secure passwords can be created using LastPass, a password manager.

BitLocker — BitLocker is a full-disk encryption solution that is built into the Windows operating system and employs AES encryption.

Veracrypt — A cross-platform alternative to Bitlocker that is utilized with Windows, Linux, OS X, and other operating systems.

DiskCryptor — DiskCryptor is a free encryption program that may even be used to cover up ISO images and system partitions.

HTTPS — When connecting to a secure website, HTTPS Everywhere ensures that the websites go through an authentication process.

VPN — A number of technologies are available for VPNs, including the Tor browser, Express VPN, Cyber Ghost, and others. It is employed to make sure that the data and web traffic remain encrypted.

Proxy servers — We may surf anonymously and hide our IP addresses by using internet proxy servers.

Types of encryption::

BYOE — Customers of cloud services can use their own encryption software and maintain their own encryption keys thanks to a security approach known as “bring your own encryption” (BYOE). The phrase “BYOE” can also indicate “bring your own key” (BYOK).

Cloud storage encryption — Online preservation Data or text must first be converted using encryption techniques before being saved in the cloud storage provider’s encryption service.

Column-level encryption — The “column-level encryption” method of database encryption employs the same password for data access, read-write access, and reading/writing in each cell of a specific column.

Deniable Encryption — Depending on the decryption key being used, deniable encryption is a sort of cryptography that allows a text to be unlocked in two or more different ways. When the sender anticipates or even welcomes communication interception, deniable encryption may be employed for deceptive motives.

Encryption As A Service — Customers of cloud services can benefit from the security that encryption offers thanks to the subscription model known as encryption as a service (EaaS). This strategy offers customers a means to solve regulatory compliance issues and safeguard data in a multi-tenant environment even if they lack the resources to maintain encryption themselves.

Field-Level Encryption — The ability to encrypt data in particular fields on a webpage is known as field-level encryption. Credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, health-related information, earnings, and financial data are a few examples of fields that can be encrypted.

Full-Disk Encryption —FDE is hardware-based encryption. Data on a hard drive is automatically converted by FDE into a format that is incomprehensible to anyone without the key to undoing the conversion.

Authors :

1. Abhishek Patil .
2. Tejas Murkya.
3. Anand Pandey.
4. Prasad Pokale.
5. Sagar Nilgar.

References:

1. A Review Paper on Encryption Techniques: https://www.ijrar.org/papers/IJRAR1ANP010.pdf
2. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/advanced-encryption-standard-aes/
3. https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/Twofish
4. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/rsa-algorithm-cryptography/
5. https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/Expert-advice-Encryption-101-Triple-DES-explained