How Your Data Used to be Kept Safe
When you enter or send any private information online, maybe a debit card for shopping at your favorite store, a password for your coveted Netflix account, or a crucial email to your boss, a hacker could very well be looking to steal your data. Thus, there must be some way to protect yourself and the information that you want to keep safe. This is where encryption comes into play.
Encryption is a process that converts information into secret code that only authorized users can access. The information that you enter is plaintext, while the randomized set of characters that results from the encryption is called ciphertext. For encryption to be effective, an encryption key is necessary to decrypt the data once it reaches the targeted receiver. While there are numerous types of encryption, this article will mainly focus on Data Encryption Standard (DES). So, what is DES?
DES is a symmetric encryption algorithm used to protect digital data. In symmetric encryption, there is only one key held by all parties which can both encrypt and decrypt the data, while in asymmetric encryption there is one public key and one private key which are both used to encrypt and decrypt the data. An encryption algorithm, such as DES, is a mathematical formula that converts plaintext into ciphertext. While the ciphertext used to encrypt the data may seem totally random, there actually is a pattern that is predictable enough to be deciphered with the correct key. Once the key is used, the pattern is readable enough that the plain text can be retrieved once again. Ok but, how was DES created?
DES originated in 1972 when the US government determined that there was a need to encrypt unclassified, sensitive data. This need was heightened after a study by the National Bureau of Standards was released displaying the lack of security on government computers. While there was some criticism of DES at first, it was approved in November 1976 and eventually published in January 1977.
Although reaffirmed as the standard for encryption numerous times from 1977 all the way to 1999), DES was eventually replaced by Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), a much more secure algorithm for encryption.
The true reason for its replacement with a stronger algorithm was because of its susceptibility to brute-force attacks. These attacks entail trying every possible combination of symbols until the correct match to the encryption key is found. Once the correct scramble of symbols has been determined, the code can be encrypted without true authorization leading to personal data being stolen and shared publicly, similar to the brute-force attack on Alibaba in 2016 which leaked the personal information of millions of user accounts. Since AES helped prevent these brute-force attacks by increasing the number of symbols in an encryption code, it was eventually established as a viable option to supersede DES. But if DES was replaced, was it even impactful at all?
While DES is effectively obsolete nowadays for protecting sensitive data, it was still the very first algorithm set as a standard of encryption. Many other algorithms, such as AES and Triple DES, have been built by making improvements to the initial DES model [1]. Although DES has run its course as an effective encryption algorithm in the present digital world, its impact on the development of cryptography can not be overlooked.
If you would like to learn some more about Data Encryption Standard (DES) consider checking out this website: https://www.educba.com/des-algorithm/ and take a look at our citations for more.
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Citations
- DES Algorithm: Explore the Creation, Drawbacks and Examples of DES. (2020, August 01). Retrieved September 7, 2020, from https://www.educba.com/des-algorithm/
- Johansen, A. G. (2020, July 06). What is encryption and how does it protect your data? Retrieved September 7, 2020, from https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-privacy-what-is-encryption.html
- Rouse, M. (2020, April 16). What is Encryption and How Does it Work? Retrieved September 7, 2020, from https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/encryption
1 AES improves DES by increasing the number of symbols used when encrypting information, thus lessening the chance that the key can be decrypted by the wrong people. Triple DES simply runs a DES encryption three times, tripling the safety of the algorithm.
