4 Basic Concepts. 15 minutes. That’s it.
That’s all the time you need to understand how encryption works in the modern ecosystem. It’s an important tool for protecting data, it’s required by countless laws, regulations, rules, and contracts. But do you really know how it works?
If you don’t understand how encryption works, how can you possibly be expected to know what level of encryption you need? Or even what level of encryption is even desirable?
In this episode of the Fearless Paranoia podcast, we guide you through what you need to know about encryption. There are a lot of terms and jargon thrown around in cybersecurity, and one of the most commonly used is encryption. You’ll hear advertising of RSA or AES encryption, promotion of transitioning from 128-bit to 256-bit, and entire campaigns about how the newest system relies on (random 5-letter acronym) instead of 256-bit encryption.
Yet very few people actually stop to talk about what those things mean. We will give you a baseline understanding of encryption so that you can make informed decisions about what kind of encryption you need.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The three essential components of any encryption system;
- The difference between symmetric and asymmetric encryption, including when you’re most likely to encounter each one;
- The common misunderstanding that encryption and “hashing” are the same thing; and
- What it means when someone describes a 128-bit vs. 256-bit encryption algorithm.
For more information, resources, and a transcript of this episode, check out the original post.
