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AES is a powerful symmetric key encryption technique used to secure electronic data such as operating systems, hard drives, and emails. It was commissioned by the US government and is widely used by governments and security companies worldwide. AES encryption works by repeatedly transforming plaintext into ciphertext and back again. It uses a fixed 128-bit block cipher with three key sizes of 128, 192, and 256 bits. AES is highly secure, although not indestructible, and is used by individuals, corporations, and agencies around the world.
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is a symmetric key encryption technique used to secure and encrypt operating systems, hard drives, network systems, files, emails, and other similar electronic data. It typically consists of three block ciphers taken from a larger collection originally published as Rijndael, a name created from the surnames of the two Belgian cryptographers who first devised the cipher and initiated its use. The standard was commissioned by the United States government to protect classified information, although today it is used by numerous governments and electronic security companies around the world. Each cipher has a block size of 128 bits with three different key sizes of 128, 192 and 256 bits. While not entirely impenetrable, it is widely considered to be one of the strongest ciphers available.
Understand cryptography in general
The digital space makes it easier for a variety of data and documentation to be shared and stored, but this ease of access can work both ways: Without adequate safeguards, information can and often is compromised, either accidentally or as a deliberate action. Encryption techniques aim to encode data packets transmitted from one point to another and also act as a barrier or vault surrounding information stored on fixed servers or hard drives. The AES standard is one of the most powerful and complex cryptographic tools.
How strong encryption works
Understanding the mechanics of the AES cipher usually requires at least some knowledge of cryptography, which can be complex. Put simply, though, the cipher works by repeatedly performing a number of transformation cycles; this converts the plaintext input into ciphertext output. There are several processing steps for each round with one round relying solely on the encryption key. Then, a series of reverse roundings are applied to convert the ciphertext back to plaintext. Encryption with AES only uses a 128-bit key to encrypt and decrypt data.
Origins and initial training
The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was the original pioneer of the standard. It made a request for encryption algorithms for the AES standard in 2000 and has accepted submissions from cryptographers around the world. Two Belgian computer scientists, Joan Daemen and Vincent Rijmen, worked together to create what they called the “Rijndael cipher”, which they put through the selection process and were eventually chosen.
The U.S. government began implementing the standard in its systems to protect classified and unclassified information in early 2001. In November of that year, AES was selected by NIST as a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS), also known as FIPS197. In July 2003, the National Security Agency (NSA) declared that AES was secure enough to protect its information at a top-secret level.
primary uses
AES encryption is used around the world to secure some of the most secure systems for both government groups and businesses. It is even used by individuals to protect private computers and network systems and is generally the standard set by the US government and most corporations and agencies around the world.
One of the reasons this type of encryption works so well is that it works on multiple network layers at the same time. Although AES and Rijndael are used interchangeably, there are some differences that should be noted. While AES uses a fixed 128-bit block cipher and three key sizes of 128, 192 and 256 bits, Rijndael can be used with any block cipher size and key in multiples of 32 bits. Rijndael ranges from 128 bits to 256 bits in its key size and block cipher.
Security benefits
While AES encryption is not indestructible, it is generally considered highly secure. Until 2009, it was believed that only a side-channel attack could pass through a system protected by AES. Related key attacks and signature attacks of known keys were reported in 2009. Some of the attacks on AES systems are difficult to complete; for example, attacks typically require a user to be on the same system as AES encryption software to break the encryption.
