Data Encryption

Introduction
Encryption is a procedure based on an algorithm in which data that is going to
be used in this process also named input data will modify its initial form so that it
becomes undecipherable without using the decryption algorithm. Although data
encryption seems to be a recent notion, the procedure has been used to send
important information centuries before the emergence of the first computers.
The science that studies the algorithmics behind the process of encryption and
decryption is called cryptology and is based on complex mathematical notions.
The principle of codification is that the algorithm that is going to work with a set
of data will arrive to a unique result for the original information, and no other set
of data will have this final result. In informatics, data encryption is used
wherever there is a need for security of private data transmissions from a
computer to another or the storage of data using a password.

General Techniques
There are 2 types of encryption: symmetrical and asymmetrical. Symmetrical
encryption will use the same key to encrypt and decrypt the data whoever has
the key can encrypt and decrypt information at the same time. The 2 nd type is a
lot more complex than the first because it uses 2 keys, one public- for encryption
and one private- for decryption. As the name goes, the public key is visibile to
anyone and is used for the encryption of data. The decryption of data will have a
necessity for the private key that is linked uniquely to the public key- if we know
the encrypted data and the public key the data cannot be deciphered. Usually,
public keys are stored visibly while private keys are generated through the use
of a password.
So we can encrypt a message we need to apply an encryption algorithm and a
cryptographic key, above the information that is going to be coded or
encrypted. So we can decode the data, the process is almost identical, the
main difference being that the decryption algorithm and the key will be applied
on the already encoded data, that is going to be once again intelligible.

Symmetrical Encryption
Symmetrical Encryption is the traditional method of encrypting data and works
using the following principle : on a computer the encryption of information is
done using an encryption algorithm and a certain key. Afterwards, the encrypted
data leaves ( without special protection measures) towards the destination. The
destination computer will be able to see the information clearly, will be able to
decrypt it, only if it has the correspondent key. If it has it, it applies it to the
crypted information or file, and thus has access to the data clearly.
The greatest problem with this encryption system, used in majority by
governments all around the world, is the need for secrecy of the keys used and
the transfer of those between users that are sometimes at great distances. The
deconspiration of these keys leads to compromised encryption systems.

Asymmetrical Encryption

As we have mentioned earlier, the main issue with symmetrical encryption is the
distribution and the secrecy required encryption keys. Cryptography that is
based on public keys was invented in 1975 by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman
and solves this problem quite elegantly.
It works using the following principle:
A public key is used and as the name says, it is not secret and it is used for the
encryption of data; at the same time a private key is used, for decryption. In
other words, anyone can encrypt data with a public key, but only the one that
has the private key can decrypt it.
Thus, if for example I need to receive important information from a partner, I can
send my public key securely to him, this key being used for the encryption of
data, so that afterwards at the receival of the information I will use my private
key in order to see the information clearly, in a decrypted manner. If the crypted
file with my public key is sent by mistake to another destination, the destination
computer will not be able to decipher the file without the private key. Principially
speaking the deduction of the private key is not possible from the public key,
even if there is a slight mathematical link between them.

Utility
From a historical point of view, the encryption of data was used in principal to
protect diplomatic and military secrets by foreign governments. Today, the
domains of applicability are varied, from governmental and private ( banks)
institutions to personal data of users.
The emergence and continuous evolution of using computers in almost all
domains of activity, the existence and strong development of teleinformatic
networks at a national level, the globalization of communications, the existence
of powerful databases, the apparition and progress of electronic commerce, email are the premises of the informatic society we are living in. All of these
indicate an incredible rise in the volume and importance of sent and stored data
and consequently a certain vulnerability of them. Protection in these systems
checks:
-the elimination of accidental or willful destruction possibilities;
-the security of communication, so that we can prevent unauthorized persons to
extract information from the system;
-in situations like the electronic transfer of funds, contractual negociations the
existence of an electronic signature is very important in order to avoid disputes
between the transmitter and the receiver, regarding the sent message.
All these objectives show a large widening of the domain of applicability of
criptography from the diplomatic, politic, military area to the economic and social
ones. These days, 99% is NOT used for the protection of military secrets, but for
bank cards, tax payments, authorized acces in buildings or at computers, lottery
terminals, electronic instruments for anticipated payments. In these applications,
the role of criptography is to make theft if not impossible, at least extremely hard
to achieve. For even more security, in the last years, encryption keys have
become changeable, but based on the same algorithm. Leading us to an
encryption result that uses a model of encryption based on the key of encryption.

One of the most noticeable data encryption algorithm is TEA ( Tiny Encryption
Algorithm).

Conclusion
To conclude with, cryptography has become extremely important for our lives in
this modern age, and as we continue to use our electronic devices, we become
more powerful but at the same time more vulnerable, hence the necessity
for security-enhancing algorithms.