Data encryption is crucial for cyber security to protect against espionage. Encryption algorithms use mathematical functions and unique keys to convert plain text into unrecognizable characters. Strong encryption standards use complex functions and large keys, such as Blowfish and RSA.
One of the fundamental roles of cyber security is to protect data from malicious espionage activities. Data encryption is the process of turning plain text data into gibberish. A data encryption algorithm is a mathematical function used in computer programming as a means of converting text data into an unrecognizable set of characters. Each algorithm has different levels of complexity, making the secret algorithm more difficult to crack.
Computer scientists have used encryption techniques for many decades. This is the basic method of encrypting messages in a foreign format that can only be decrypted with reverse encryption keys and algorithms. Each algorithm manipulates plaintext data in a specific way, which makes it difficult to interpret.
Data encryption algorithms use special encryption keys to encrypt and decrypt messages. These keys are unique to each type of data encryption algorithm. The first version of encryption typically used a 56-bit key, but more advanced methods use extremely strong 448-bit keys.
The International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA) is an example of a data encryption algorithm. It was built in 1991 by James Massey and Xeujia Lai at the organization called ETH Zurich. This organization is the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. IDEA uses a 128-bit encryption key, making it a moderately sophisticated encryption algorithm. This algorithm uses multiple mathematical functions with repeating loops to create a secret encrypted message. Even though IDEA only uses a 128-bit key, the use of complex mathematical functions makes it difficult to decipher.
Most strong data encryption algorithms use complex mathematical functions with large encryption keys. This makes it impossible to decrypt without using the original algorithm and key. These types of algorithms are associated with Strong Encryption Standards (AES), which are maintained by the US federal government. Many AES data encryption algorithms support encryption keys larger than 256 bits.
Blowfish is one of the most complex data encryption algorithms available. This encryption feature uses a symmetric key algorithm process, making it indestructible. The blowfish algorithm was created by Bruce Schneier in 1993. It uses a variable length key with a maximum size of 448 bits.
The RSA data encryption algorithm was created by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adleman in 1978 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It was an early version of encryption based on data encryption standards (DES). RSA uses two keys for encryption and decryption, making it an asymmetric encryption algorithm. One key is used as encryption key while another independent key is used for decryption.
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