What is Encryption?

The Computer Security Resource Center (CSRC) describes encryption as the:

“transformation of data (called “plaintext”) into a form (called “ciphertext”) that conceals the data's original meaning to prevent it from being known or used.”

At a basic level, encryption is the process of scrambling data so that it can only be read by its intended recipient. That person who has the means to return the data to its original state, ie. the password or decryption key.

How does encryption work?

Encryption is a rather complicated topic but for the sake of your own sanity (and our writer's), we're going to keep the answer to “how does encryption work?” this nice and simple.

Encryption takes plain text data, like a text message or an email for example, and uses complex algorithms to encrypt that data by turning it into an unreadable format, or “cipher text”.

When the intended recipient opens the text or email, the cipher text is decrypted and translated back into its original readable form. Should an unauthorized person try to intercept the message, they won't be able to decipher its content.

What is encryption used for?

Encryption technology enables the safe storage of sensitive information on a computer system. This type of encryption is known as “Data at Rest Encryption” (DARE). It also protects data while it is being transmitted between networks, known as “In Transit Encryption”.

These two functions are what make business operations, communications, and internet usage safer for all users.

Encryption technology is crucial for multiple industries from technology to retail, financial services, healthcare, tourism, and so many more. It helps them safeguard their hard drives, email inboxes, computers, networks, individual folders, file transfers, and portable devices.

Using encryption businesses can benefit from the following:

• Data integrity: With encryption, you can be sure that private data has been kept secure and hasn't been tampered with.
• Authentication: Using encrypted communication channels ensures that we are communicating with the real and intended person.
• Non-repudiation: Encryption provides the sender with proof of delivery and the recipient proof of the sender's identity.

While encryption can safeguard businesses of all shapes and sizes, it also helps us on an individual level.

These days our personal data is collected and stored by countless companies and without strong encryption, that information would be exposed to hackers and bad actors.

We trust these companies to safeguard our data, protect our privacy, and stop our identities from falling into the wrong hands.

Whether we realize it or not, we use some form of encryption every day.

Web browsing

As you browse the world wide web and click on interesting sites, look in the address bar. If you see “HTTPS” at the beginning of the website's address, then, congratulations, you're interacting with encryption.

HTTPS is an encrypted communications protocol used to increase the security of data transfer. It basically stops any sensitive data you might share with a website, such as login credentials or credit card details, from being viewed by bad actors.

E-commerce

The entire e-commerce industry is reliant on encryption. As customers, we trust companies to keep our private data safe when we purchase items online. Businesses are able to do this using secure and complex cryptographic algorithms.

Secure messaging

When we use messaging apps, we expect our conversations to be private. Some apps use encryption that ensures privacy while the data is in transit but a more robust method is end-to-end encryption (E2EE). Using end-to-end encryption apps means that only the sender and the intended recipient can read the messages. No third-party, not even the message service provider has access.

Why encryption matters

As life continues to move online, cybercrime is growing. Instances of data breaches are on the rise with 4,800 websites, on average compromised per month. Identity theft is also a growing concern with 1.4 million identity theft cases reported to the Federal Trades Commission in 2021.

Encryption is one of the best ways to counteract these trends and ensure that the confidential information transmitted by billions of people every day remains out of reach of criminals.

On a national security level, encryption also prevents those bad actors from gaining access to government, military, or law enforcement communications, files, and systems. It also protects critical infrastructure and financial institutions, ensuring the stability of entire countries.

Beyond this general importance of encryption, there are also instances when encryption becomes crucial for specific groups of people, for example:

Journalists

For journalists, end-to-end encryption apps are a vital tool that enables them to do their job safely, to communicate in confidence with their colleagues, and protect the anonymity of their sources.

Without encryption, without this protection, sources would be reluctant to come forward or if they did, they could be put in grave danger. End-to-end encryption apps help ensure freedom of the press and expression, and privacy.

In the press release for the inaugural Global Encryption Day, Edward Snowden, Board Member of Freedom of the Press Foundation and famous whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations stated,

“It would have been impossible for me to whistleblow without encryption. My first messages to journalists were made with encryption and without secure end-to-end encryption it is impossible to see how brave investigative journalism could happen at all.”

LGBTQ+ people

Strong encryption is a critical part of keeping LGBTQ+ people safe both online and in real life, allowing them to live their lives without fear of persecution while also protecting their privacy.

It is a vital tool that enables people to find support systems online, which can be especially important for those who risk losing loved ones by coming out, or who live in one of the 71 countries where LGBTQ+ people are criminalized.

Encryption not only helps to keep online communications private but also minimizes the risk of violence and stigma they might otherwise endure.

Encryption for young people

Kids and teens are spending even more and more time online, in fact, research by the Pew Research Center found that 97% of teens said they use the internet daily. Encryption then becomes critical for the protection of young people as they browse the World Wide Web. Technology like end-to-end encryption apps ensures that cybercriminals or abusers are unable to butt into private conversations, send harmful content, or gain access to their private photos or location data.

Threats to encryption

Despite all the protection encryption technology provides, there are those who would choose to weaken it. Some believe that strong encryption gives criminals a secure door to hide behind.

For example, the UK government and a coalition of charities have been campaigning to stop Meta from introducing end-to-end encryption to their Messenger service on the grounds that it will put more children at risk of abuse.

That campaign was part of a larger threat in the form of the Online Safety Bill. There is a controversial clause in this Bill to enforce social media and messaging platforms to include a “backdoor” to their encrypted services as a means to prevent crime.

Although the Bill has been passed into law, the government has admitted that they don't have the technology to scan messages without affecting user privacy and therefore won't demand companies comply.

For now. The exact wording in the Bill is, 'until it's technically feasible". Meaning an encryption backdoor is still on the cards.

What is an encryption backdoor?

An encryption backdoor, sometimes called “exceptional access”, is a deliberate weakness inserted into a program or algorithm that will allow access to encrypted data while bypassing authentication.

But what the GEC is trying to explain with Global Encryption Day, is that instead of preventing crime, an encryption backdoor provides a ready-made access point for criminals, terrorist organizations, or hostile governments to exploit.

Meredith Whittaker, CEO of the messaging app Signal explained it perfectly when she said in an interview with Channel 4 News, "No way to create a backdoor that only the good guys can walk through."

How does encryption work with a backdoor?

It doesn't. The idea behind an encryption backdoor is to allow law enforcement and intelligence services to intercept communications to combat crime. In theory, it sounds like a good idea...

BUT, in reality, if we weaken encryption to expose the bad guys, we expose everyone.

Law enforcement will not be the only one to make use of encryption backdoors.

Criminals are constantly on the search for vulnerabilities and an intentional backdoor is like leaving the bank vault wide open.

Children, individuals from marginalized communities, victims of abuse, journalists, undercover police, activists, protected witnesses— anyone who relies on encryption will be put at risk.

But in reality, we all rely on encryption.

The consequences of weakened encryption

Let's take a look at what backdoors and weakened encryption could mean for society.

• Compromised end-to-end encryption apps put the lives of journalists, activists, protected witnesses, undercover police, and vulnerable populations at risk.
• Personal banking information, credit card data, and other sensitive financial information will be more easily accessible to cybercriminals.
• Health records and other personal identification information (PII) could be exposed making identity theft an even larger issue than it already is. Financial fraud not only impacts the individual victim but also businesses and the economic stability of the nation.
• Weakened encryption would create even more opportunities for cybercriminals to access and exploit government data. Instances such as the Costa Rica ransomware attack which brought the entire country to its knees could become a much more common occurrence.
• A country's critical infrastructure could be jeopardized by intentionally allowing vulnerabilities to systems like electrical power grids, elections, health services, and transportation services. Bad actors hacking into these systems can result in pandemonium, public fear, physical injury or fatalities, and economic harm.
• The national security community and its communication relies on encryption, backdoors could put them and the country in danger, allowing non-authorized parties to eavesdrop or compromise military operations.

Encryption needs you!

So, on Global Encryption Day what can you do to keep encryption alive? Well, one of the easiest things we can do as consumers and internet users, is to switch to services that make encryption part of their policy.

Choose to communicate with your friends and family with end-to-end encryption apps. Apps like WhatsApp and Signal are instant messaging services that all use end-to-end encryption to keep your private conversations, photos, and your data secure. Email providers such as ProtonMail also use end-to-end encryption.

Other service providers offer encryption as an option, not as default- such as Meta's Messenger and Microsoft's Teams. So, be sure to turn it on!

To stay safe online and keep devices and data secure, use strong passwords, use 2-factor authentication, and keep your systems and software up to date.

Encryption is just one part of the protection puzzle but without it, the rest won't matter!

Now that we've covered the basics, answering "how does encryption work?" and why it's so important, head on over to Compare the Best Encrypted Chat Apps.