Unlocking Encryption – A Method of Data Security
Encryption is an increasingly important set of technologies that enable customers to protect the personal data on computers, through public or private network, or in other machine-readable form.
For small and medium markets, the ideal approach to data encryption will be both affordable and easily integrated into a comprehensive data backup and business continuity systems solutions. This will include a powerful, standards-based encryption, and offers a powerful key management functions.
Imagine a bank with 20,000 customers, most with multiple accounts and bank cards. Every night, the bank makes a complete tape backup of the server core information.
Each of these practices can cause the tape to be mislaid or stolen from the loading dock, accidentally dropped off at the wrong location, or a lost or stolen from delivery van, among others. Once the tapes are in the wrong hands unencrypted data easily compromised.
Fortunately, the encryption function can be easily integrated into the organization’s backup process, protect all data on corporate servers and backup devices, and all the data taken from the site for archiving.
Keys and key management
A key is a piece of information, or parameters, which controls the operation of a cryptographic algorithm. Modern encryption algorithms typically use either symmetric keys or asymmetric.
Symmetric key method uses the same key for encryption and decryption. Symmetric keys are excellent for use with devices and equipment that need to share key is very limited. This usually happens with the backup data set, which one does not need to specifically allow access to many key parties.
If you lose your house keys, locksmith can choose a mechanical lock and help you regain access. If you lock your keys in the car, there are special tools that can help you open the door. But any method of encryption that allows this kind of “alternative access” in the event of lost keys will be fatal safe. These days, most of the encrypted data unreadable to thieves and basically totally lost to the owner in the absence of the necessary keys for decryption.
Implementation method
Data encryption can be incorporated into your workflow in a variety of different ways, each with advantages and disadvantages. When implementing data encryption on the network, there are four basic ways to approach the process:
