Types Of Encryption
Article Posted by Expert Author: Nancy Ruskus on 06/11/2013
The proper definition of encryption is the use of an algorithmic scheme in order to encode a message. Online, encryption is used to protect the data within credit card transactions. And most often, SSL, or Secure Socket Layer encryption is used. Encryption is needed more and more as we increasingly rely on our computers to communicate and store information.
Encryption can be applied to everything from financial transactions to e-mail. And there are three types: volume and virtual disk encryption, full disk encryption and file/folder encryption. A volume is like the boot or system volumes on your computer at home. These can be encrypted and then set to require the proper authentication before access can be granted. The virtual disk involves encrypting a container, which can contain any number of folders and files. Again, proper authentication is required to access those files. But the difference is that a container can be copied from one medium to the other without affecting its encryption.
Full disk encryption is also known as FDE, and is a process whereby all data on a hard drive that's used to boot a computer is encrypted. This includes the computer's operating system. Access to the data that's been encrypted with the FDE process can only occur on successful authentication. File and folder encryption occurs when individual files on any kind of storage medium have been encrypted. Folder encryption protects the folder from unauthorized access, while file encryption protects each file.
There are many types of software available to successfully apply encryption. One popular solution is the software which can encrypt all the files and folders that exist on a disk. However, no encryption method is 100%. If the encryption software has not been updated, there could be much vulnerability which can easily be exploited to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information.
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