What is Encryption?

Before there were smartphones and computers, encryption was used to create coded messages in a way that allowed only authorized people to read them. Encryption describes any method to create a coded message and computers use software programs to accomplish this. An encrypted message requires a “key” generated by the software to open the message, which “decrypts” the message. Without the correct key, the message is unreadable, so encryption is like a lock on a door of a house, only it's a lock on and data or files such as an email message, a credit card number, or other private information.

History of Encryption

The term encryption comes from cryptography, the field of creating and decoding secret messages. Cryptography has been used for thousands of years to communicate with words that can't be understood if they are intercepted. The word cryptography is derived from the Greek work kryptos, which means hidden. Encryption of messages is commonly used by military organizations so communications can take place secretly, and there are some stories about encryption.

You might have heard of the Enigma machine, which was Germany's cryptographic technique used during World War II. It was the subject of the recent movie “The Imitation Game” starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, the mathematician who broke the code. An encrypted The British were able to intercept the messages, but the coded messages were impossible to understand until the system was broken and the decryption key was discovered.

The effort to decrypt the Enigma messages used work that Polish intelligence started on as early as 1932 when they broke the original Enigma machine. Improvements and changes by the Germans required the British five and a half months, even using the prior work shared with them by Polish intelligence. Alan Turing created a computer to decrypt the messages from the Enigma machine. His work reverse engineering the Enigma machine resulted in many principles of modern computer science.

There's another type of secrecy related to cryptography called steganography, which is the technique of concealing a message. The term comes from the Greek words steganos (to cover), and graphein (to write) and is an ancient method of concealment. With cryptography, the message can't be understood but can be intercepted; with steganography the message is concealed, so it's hidden. The need to protect information before there were computers produced some creative methods using steganography.

In ancient Greece and Persia, messages were sent using a steganographic technique that shaved the hair off a messenger's head. The text was written on the scalp of the messenger, and when his hair grew back, he was sent to deliver the message. If captured, the only way the enemy would know about the message was if they shaved the messenger's head. Of course, once the enemy learned about the technique, the messages could be intercepted, and a new system was required. The weakness of steganography is that once someone learns how the information was hidden, they can read every future message.

Encryption on computers and smartphones

Encryption on electronic devices and smartphones use software programs that scramble the file and create a unique code to lock and unlock the file or message. An unencrypted email message can be read by anyone who can open it. The process of encryption takes all of the information in the email message and scrambles it into meaningless combinations of characters and assigns a piece of data, the key, that is required to unlock and unscramble the characters back into readable information.

Here's an example of how you could encrypt a message with a simple encryption method called substitution. Let's say you want to send a coded message to someone that said: “I walked my dog.” By substituting the next letter of the alphabet in the words, you could create a coded message that reads “j xbmlfe nz eph.” Someone would have to figure out what method you used, to create your message to unlock or decrypt it. Your method for coding the message requires that the reader understands the key to unlocking the message. In This example is a simple process of letter substitution, but it still conceals the original message.

Now imagine that you had a powerful calculator that could create much more complex scrambling of characters, numbers, symbols and spaces and you have an idea of the power of encryption with computers.

With the calculating ability of today's chips, it has become possible to create software keys that can make a device or program tamper-proof. Software companies, websites, and device makers are sensitive to the privacy concerns of their customers and include encryption tools for users. You might not have realized you were using an encryption method when using the Internet, but here are some examples you might have used without knowing it.

Encryption is necessary for computer security when using the Internet since it's a public network The Internet is a public network, and as a result, any message or file can be intercepted, so encryption offers a way for people to use the Internet and keep information secure and safe. While usernames and passcode provide a level of security to make it harder for someone to access any accounts you use, encryption creates an additional layer of secrecy for information which requires anyone to use the right decryption key to unlock the message.

Secure websites use the “https” prefix with the added “s” to note that the website is secure. With a secure site, the information sent between your computer and the website is encrypted and can't be understood or read by anyone except you or the website. Online banking websites and shopping carts use this method of web encryption for secure online transactions. The encryption on an https website is extremely strong and decrypting an https message would be virtually impossible, so this type of data is very secure.

Another method is to encrypt the code used to unlock an entire device, like a smartphone.
The passcode lock on iPhones, other iOS devices, and Android devices is an encrypted code that is required to unlock and use the device. Since the device owner is the only person who knows the passcode, the device is useless to anyone else since Apple requires the device to be unlocked before any apps or data can be accessed. If too many attempts are made to unlock the device with an incorrect passcode, the device is permanently locked.

iOS devices give you ten attempts to enter your passcode while Android devices give you three attempts before you're locked out permanently. The hardware can be reset to factory settings, but this destroys all of the data on the device.

How good is encryption?

It took the British team led by Alan Turing about five and a half months to decrypt the Enigma machine, which was a mechanical device. Modern computers and software programs have significantly more calculating power and can create encryption keys that are almost impossible to break. It's not to say that any encrypted file or message can't be accessed; it's that the effort to do so may be available to only people (like governments) with the computing power and resources to do so. Even then, success isn't guaranteed, and the encryption may be so effective that it could be impossible to read the data.

To my way of thinking

Keeping information private is possible using methods like encryption. Technology makes it possible to encrypt messages, information, devices, and files that might require a massive effort to decrypt. Who should have access to someone's private secrets and when is something that you'll have to determine, but knowing what encryption is and how it works can help you understand the technology better.

For some additional reading on the history of cryptography, check out this article at Fordham University by Jacob Mathai

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