Learn more about the inner workings of enterprise-grade encryption, and find out how Unqork’s no-code platform keeps your critical data safe.
In the latest installment of our security series, we’re exploring one of the most fundamental aspects of contemporary information security: Encryption. Simply put, encryption is the process of converting essential data into a secret code to prevent hackers and other unauthorized personnel from uncovering its true meaning.
In previous technological eras, encryption technologies were reserved for military and government agencies. Now, strong encryption is readily available to any enterprise that needs end-to-end protection for its data and communications. Given its frequent use, many people know encryption exists, but don’t fully understand how it works or just how important it is. Here, we’ll cover everything you need to know about encryption and how it protects data from prying eyes.
How Does Encryption Work?
There are two main types of encryption—symmetric ciphers and asymmetric ciphers. A cipher is an algorithm that performs encryption or decryption tasks. Most enterprises today use a combination of both symmetric and asymmetric ciphers for optimal security.
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Symmetric ciphers are also known as “secret key encryption” and only use a single key for data protection. The sender and the computer system must share this same key with all relevant authorized users to decrypt the message. Symmetric encryption is faster than asymmetric encryption and is best used for internal encryption purposes. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is the most widely used example of symmetric encryption.
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Asymmetric ciphers are also known as “public-key encryption” and employ two separate yet linked keys. This type of encryption uses prime numbers to create keys since it’s more difficult for computers to reverse-engineer encryption when large prime numbers are involved. Asymmetric encryption is best used for external file transfers, and Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) is the most popular example of this encryption type.
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Let’s use AES-256 encryption, the strongest encryption available, as an example to explore how encryption works in depth. With AES, information can be encrypted and divided into sections called blocks consisting of either 128, 192, or 256 bits. This number refers to the bit key length used to encrypt and decrypt a block of messages.
The security of a particular kind of encryption depends on the length of the key. With a 256-bit key, a hacker would have to try 2256 different combinations to find the right one. That’s an astronomically colossal number—78 digits total, which is exponentially larger than the number of atoms in the observable universe! Brute force decryption is hard to perform because of the mathematical complexity of factoring in huge prime numbers to try and work your way back to the private key.
When performing any kind of encryption, you might encounter particular challenges. Sometimes, you can encrypt too much and accidentally block your own authorized access to data. Key management can also be complicated, as keys must be hidden somewhere—and the savviest hackers will know just where and how to look for hidden encryption keys. This is why your encryption keys should not exist indefinitely. A good general rule for encryption key creation is that the more protection certain data requires, the shorter its encryption key lifetime.
Why Encryption Matters
Even with these minor challenges, encryption is an essential aspect of data security, especially for web applications. Security attacks on web applications and other application-specific breaches make up more than 32% of all cybersecurity threats, making this platform the most common attack vendor. Without encryption, hackers could eavesdrop on communications, steal sensitive information, generate fraudulent emails from “legitimate” sources, and cause even more damage.
At Unqork, we know how vital it is to keep your valuable data safe from harm. Our expert encryption methods and best practices provide the very best protection for your information, ensuring the utmost security so you can share essential material with confidence.
Proper encryption will help you maintain the confidentiality of your digital data and feel secure in its safety. Encryption also allows you to demonstrate compliance, attesting to your ability to adhere to rules and regulations. From a business perspective, having robust encryption proves your customers can trust you with their personally identifiable information, financial details, and other sensitive data.
Unlock Enterprise-Grade Encryption with Unqork
When you build an application using the Unqork platform, you can trust that we will protect your data in accordance with the strictest information security and privacy standards. All our data here at Unqork is fully encrypted at-rest and in-transit, with redundant copies which support our website’s high availability.
We utilize Amazon KMS, specifically the AWS SDK and AP-based programmatic services, to generate account keys used for local at-rest encryption. We also use MongoDB Atlas and AWS RDS, which leverages AES-256 as well as 192-bit and 128-bit encryption keys. For in-transit data, Unqork uses Secure HTTPS and industry-standard ciphers, protocols, and methods to ensure secure connections.
CreateKey is another feature of AWS available to Unqork users, which creates a unique customer-managed master key (CMK) that never leaves AWS KMS unencrypted. Unqork also enables automatic key rotation for customer CMKs and saves older cryptographic material perpetually, so it can be used to decrypt data it has encrypted in the past. Along with all this, our cloud-agnostic single-tenant architecture ensures your data won’t mingle with anyone else’s information.
At Unqork, we know how vital it is to keep your valuable data safe from harm. Our expert encryption methods and best practices provide the very best protection for your information, ensuring the utmost security so you can share essential material with confidence.
Schedule a personalized demonstration with one of our in-house experts to learn more about how Unqork’s no-code platform can keep data out of harm’s way. Also, sign up for the Unqork newsletter to receive the latest news in the world of no-code and data security.
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