Let’s unpack encryption

Encryption has existed since 1900 BC, histories say that a normal man in Egypt used  a simple code of hieroglyphic substitution in the tomb of Khnumhotep. So how did the man do this? By simply altering code and that’s where I am coming to.

What is encryption?

It is simply the process of disguising/ converting content into a code to prevent unauthorised access. Imagine you want to send this message to Salma who stays in Entebbe Uganda but the message is too sensitive because it contains sensitive information that you wouldn’t want any one to see. What you do is to create a PGP key that will lock the message.

I know some terms may be hard to understand but don’t you worry, that is how blank I was the first time i thought of encryption. PGP means Pretty Good Privacy. It is a system used for encrypting sensitive emails and sensitive files

How does encryption help us?

Encryption protects our sensitive data from being altered. Because the data is altered into a code and no body even understands the meaning except the owner of the message and the reciever because both have created keys that are able to decript the message. Normally if a message is not encrypted, there is a possibility of it being edited by the hacker and sent in a wrong format. Let’s say a someone has sent an acceptance letter for a job but an enemy of progress accesses it along the way, and the message is not encrypted, they may decide to send a letter rejecting the offer, the same applies to companies, imagine you are aggreeing with the contract terms and conditions and you have sent a message which is not encrypted and then along the way a competing partner who is malicious finds it, they simply alter the message and decide to send an email rejecting the contract instead

Encryption prevents theft of financial information

It is often recommended to encrypt all financial details especially account details. Let’s take an example of visa card information being sent and along the way it is hacked. It gives room for the hacker to withdraw every penny from the card holder’s account. The CVC at the back of your card plus your card number is a gateway for money retrieval; this a reason why companies should encrypt or even individuals before forwarding the sensitive messages.

Encryption promotes privacy

Nude pictures that are not encrypted can easily be leaked on social media and the victim gets exposed to trolling, swatting and every thing. Encrypted pictures are private

Encryption enables companies to gain customer trust

Companies like banks hold sensitive data of customers; they may hold personal details like national identification details of customers. In Uganda, for someone to open an account in a bank, they must give in their National Identification Number(NIN), and once customers know that their data is safe and encrypted, they gain trust in the bank and even keep other more information in the bank; that means more profits for the bank.

Not encrypting information is like leaving a house open to barglars. You stand to make losses especially on the side of information; it is either it is altered, stolen. In the next article we will talk about the two main types of encryption and that is symmetric and asymmetric encryption