On Day 5 of A2Z Challenge 2019, I shall touch the A2Z of Encryption. In Cryptography, Encryption is the process of encoding information in such a way that only authorized users can view it. This ensures that the message is viewed by the intended recipients. In this process, the information or the message is referred to as plaintext. This plaintext is encrypted using an encryption algorithm – ciphertext. The ciphertext can be read only if it is decrypted using the key provided by the sender.

Government organisations use encryption to protect classified documents, corporates use it to protect their confidential data. Many individuals use it to protect their personal data. Many websites use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), a form of encrypted data when it is being sent to and from a website. This prevents the attackers from accessing the data which is being transmitted. SSL enabled websites’ URL begins with “https://” instead of “http://”, and you’ll find a green padlock icon in the address bar of the website.

A2Z of Encryption – Types of Encryption

There are two types of encryption schemes – Symmetric Key encryption and Public Key encryption.

• Symmetric Key encryption: In Symmetric key encryption, the encryption and decryption keys are the same.
• Public Key encryption: In Public Key encryption, the encryption is published for anyone to use and encrypt messages. However, only the intended recipient has the secret key to decrypt the message.

Encryption is a vast topic. In this post, I tried to A2Z of Encryption (elementary part) in brief. Have a question related to it? Feel free to ask them in the comments.