Encryption and how it works?

Over the last couple of years, the words "encryption" and "privacy" have been thrown around a lot, but what does encryption actually mean and how is it beneficial?

Imagine sending a letter to your friend, but the postman can read it. Creepy, right? In the tech world, encryption is simply the act of scrambling and obfuscating the contents of something so that only the intended party can access it. Encryption is becoming increasingly important as hackers become more sophisticated.

Most modern-day apps use encryption. For example, a text sent on WhatsApp is fully encrypted. If someone tries to access the message using unauthorized tech, it will look like this to them:

@hgasjdhg55538484$%#*$^%

This makes no sense, right? That's the whole point. Fun fact: Instagram DMs are not encrypted by default! This means that they are not as secure as WhatsApp messages.

So how does encryption work? There are two ways to encrypt something: symmetric and asymmetric. Both of these technologies rely heavily on cryptography, which is based on some very difficult math.

Symmetric encryption uses one key to encode and decode the message. Because of this, it is generally considered weaker than asymmetric encryption. However, it is much faster.

The other way of encryption is asymmetric encryption, which is considered safer because it uses two unique keys to encrypt and decrypt the message. This makes the process of safeguarding your information slower, but it is also more secure.

Regardless of what type of encryption is used, it is essential to have some form of encryption when using technology. Most apps nowadays use end-to-end encryption. So if you have seen that phrase somewhere, you know what it means now. Make sure to always check if your data is encrypted when using online tech services.

That's it for this issue. If you liked it, consider subscribing and sharing this newsletter with others. Be on the lookout for another issue sometime soon! Until I write another issue, make sure to clean and update your tech.