What is the role of encryption on the Internet?

The role of encryption on the Internet is to prevent useful or private information from being intercepted and stolen on the Internet. The encrypted password is unreadable even if it is obtained by a hacker. The encrypted bidding document cannot be decrypted without the recipient's private key. The bidding document becomes a lot of garbled code without any practical meaning, so even if it is stolen, there will be no trace. loss; so encryption is very important to protect files.

The operating environment of this tutorial: Windows 7 system, Dell G3 computer.

The rapid development of network technology has facilitated our daily lives, accelerated work efficiency, and enhanced communication. The emergence of the Internet has indeed brought us a lot of convenience, but network security issues have always troubled us. Viruses and hackers are rampant, and various threats are constantly coming out. Network security issues have also become a concern of society. Key issues. File transmission security is one of the security issues of public concern. A file may contain many secrets. Once stolen by hackers, the loss will be unimaginable.

What is file encryption:

File encryption is simply to process the original plaintext file according to a certain algorithm to make it an unreadable piece of code. , often called "ciphertext". The original content can only be displayed after entering the corresponding key. In this way, the purpose of protecting the data from being illegally stolen and read is achieved. The reverse of this process is decryption, the process of converting the encoded information into its original data.

Why should we encrypt files:

We know that there are many unsafe factors in file transfer and email business transactions on the Internet, especially for some large companies and Some confidential documents are transmitted over the network. And this insecurity is inherent in the TCP/IP protocol, the foundation of the Internet, including some TCP/IP-based services; so in order to ensure security, we must encrypt files.

The role of encryption on the Internet is to prevent useful or private information from being intercepted and stolen on the Internet. A simple example is the transmission of passwords. Computer passwords are extremely important. Many security protection systems are based on passwords. In a sense, the leakage of passwords means the complete collapse of their security systems. When logging in through the network, the typed password is transmitted to the server in clear text, and eavesdropping on the network is extremely easy, so it is very likely that hackers will steal the user's password. If the user is a Root user or Administrator users, the consequences will be extremely serious.

The solution to the above problem is encryption. The encrypted password is unreadable even if it is obtained by a hacker. The encrypted bidding document cannot be decrypted without the recipient's private key. The bidding document becomes a large pile of unreadable documents. Any garbled code in any practical sense, so there will be no loss even if it is stolen. So encryption is very important to protect files.

Encryption Types

Encryption is based on mathematical encoding and decoding of information. There are two types of encryption, symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption. Both parties of symmetric encryption use a common key (of course, this key needs to be kept secret).

Here we talk about asymmetric encryption. There are two keys in this encryption method. The key - one is the public key (as the name suggests, this is a public key value), and the other is the public key. The first is the private key (secret to the outside world). When you send information to us, it is encrypted using a public key. Once we receive your encrypted message, we use your private key to decrypt the message (message encrypted by our public key can only be decrypted by our private key), thus technically ensuring that only we can decrypt the message. Interpretation - because others do not have our private key). Information encrypted using the private key can only be decrypted using the public key (this function is applied in the field of digital signatures. The data encrypted by my private key can only be decrypted by my public key. For details, please refer to the information on digital signatures) and vice versa. to ensure the security of your information.

Encryption Tips

The following tips can enhance the security of encryption:

1. Do not use old encryption algorithms

Businesses should stop using older encryption algorithms like DES and its relative 3DES (Triple Data Encryption Standard).

2. Use the longest encryption key supported by the enterprise

It is recommended that enterprises use the largest length key possible, which can make it difficult for those enterprises without access to backdoors to crack the enterprise's encryption. AES 128 is pretty robust these days, but if possible, use AES 512 or longer keys.

3. Multi-layer encryption

It is recommended that enterprises utilize multi-layer encryption as much as possible, which can increase the difficulty for attackers. If possible, encrypt every field, every table, and the entire database.

4. Secure storage of encryption keys

The biggest problem facing enterprises may not be that the encryption algorithm has been left with a backdoor by the US National Security Agency, but that the password itself is only part of the encryption scheme. Other elements of the infrastructure, such as key management systems, must also be secured. Attackers are willing to target the weakest link in a security system. If an attacker can easily steal the key, why go to the trouble of cracking the encryption algorithm?

Some enterprises give the keys to protect their data to third parties, especially when the enterprise stores the data in a public cloud and is encrypted and protected by the cloud provider. The problem here is that the enterprise has no control over the keys and must instead trust the cloud provider's employees to keep the keys securely.

It would be much more secure if businesses could implement an encryption system that controlled the keys in the cloud. Cloud encryption gateways that automatically handle encryption can help companies achieve this security.

5. Ensure encryption is implemented correctly

In fact, implementing an encryption system is not an easy task because it has many dynamic parts, any one of which may become a weak link. You have to do a lot of research to make sure encryption is implemented correctly.

What areas are prone to errors when implementing encryption? In addition to the keys being vulnerable, there is also the implementation of CBC (Cryptoblock Chaining). Using CBC, plain text can be Then, the previously generated ciphertext block is used as an initialization vector to perform an XOR operation on the next plain text block.

Correct implementation of CBC requires that each process be started with a new initialization vector. A common mistake is to implement CBC with a static initialization vector that does not change. If CBC is implemented correctly, then if we encrypt a block of text on two different occasions, the resulting ciphertext block will not be the same.

6. Don’t ignore external factors

External factors that a company has little control over have the potential to undermine the security of an encryption system. For example, SSL relies on digital certificates, and these factors rely on the integrity of the root certificate authority embedded in the browser (such as IE, Firefox, Chrome, etc.). But how do we know if they are trustworthy, or if these certificate authorities are not a front for some foreign intelligence agency? If you think this sounds far-fetched, it could be true.

In addition, DNS is also a weakness that must be taken seriously. Once the DNS is compromised, attackers can use phishing techniques to bypass encryption.

Of course, the emphasis here is on the various possibilities of encryption issues. A properly implemented encryption system can only be broken under one condition, namely by testing the key. It is not impossible to guess the key in a short time, but it is extremely unlikely.

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