Encryption - How Secure Do You Want It?
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How Encryption WorksEncryption is the process of encoding information in such a way that only the person (or computer) with the key can decode it. There are two levels of encryption: 40-bit and 128-bit. With 40-bit encryption, there are billions of possible keys to decipher the coded information, and only one of them works. Someone intercepting the information would have to find the right key - a nearly impossible task. With 128-bit encryption, there are 300 billion trillion times as many keys as with 40-bit encryption. It is virtually impossible for an unauthorized party to find the right key, even if they are equipped with the best computers. Icon Lock-iT uses the both 40-bit and 128-bit encryption to insure that your files are safe from any intruders. In a world full of hackers, you must understand that your computer is not safe and that includes the information that is on it. So you must be thinking security and protecting what is yours. Just as you lock up your home before you leave, you must also lock up your files on your computer before you leave them for someone else's eyes to see. Key-based EncryptionKeys are the fundamental essential element in generating modern ciphertext. A string of bits used widely in cryptography, allowing people to encrypt and decrypt data; a key can be used to perform other mathematical operations as well. Given a cipher, a key determines the mapping of the plaintext to the ciphertext.The key to a particular cryptosystem is some value which, when applied to ciphertext, allows the encrypted message to be decrypted and when applied to plaintext encrypts it. It is important to note that in the study of cryptography one talks about the lengths of keys in terms of bits. Messages, too, can be encrypted in 'n-bit blocks'. The longer a key is the more difficult it is to break the encrypted message. |
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The most
common method of breaking ciphers is by a brute-force attack. This
sort of attack involves running through possible combinations of keys
and applying them to the cryptosystem until the message is decrypted.
It is the same as trying to guess a PIN for someone's ATM card by
going through all the possible combinations of numbers. It is said
that any University computer science major would have enough computer
power available to be able to break most 56-bit key cryptosystems
in less than one week.
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