ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM

Encryption Algorithm

Encryption Algorithm

Introduction

The function of the encryption is to protect the confidentiality, the authenticity, and the integrity of the message. (Howard, 2002) Encryption is used to scramble the information or message sent so that unauthorized persons cannot read the content. The technique also provides digital signatures that can be used to identify the author of a message. Furthermore, methods have been developed to verify that a message has not been altered during the transmission process. In situations in which information needs to be protected, the effectiveness of the transmission of messages becomes crucial. Military, civilian, or diplomatic organizations are therefore faced with the challenges of intercepting and deciphering enemy communications, as well as keeping their own codes from being decoded. The use of AES 256 by major criminals and terrorists can seriously aggravate the work of law enforcement agencies, given that it can be used to conceal unlawful activities. Lawfully intercepted and retrieved material can therefore be an essential tool in the fight against serious crimes and threats to national security. (Kippenhahn, 1999)

Encryption is a cryptographic technology. Cryptography is the basic technology that protects information during the transit process. A message is transformed and is viewed as an unintelligible format by an unauthorized recipient. However, an authorized receiver can transform it back to its original form or content. The modern cryptographic method consists of the paired processes of encryption and decryption. Encryption is the system through which a plaintext (message) is transformed into a ciphertext (second message) using encryption algorithms and encryption keys. Decryption is defined as the opposite of encryption: the ciphertext is transformed back into the original format. The only way to decrypt an encrypted message is by knowing the particular key used in the algorithm system of choice (Stallings, 1999).

Types of Encryption Algorithms

Two major types of encryption algorithms are in existence. The first algorithm, called private key algorithms, uses the same key to code and decode. In this system only the one coding-decoding key can be used to decrypt a message coded in this way. A second type of algorithm is the public key algorithms. Public key algorithms use different keys to respectively encrypt and decrypt the message. The encryption key is a public key since it is made publicly available, whereas the decryption key is the secret key. Consequently, only the authorized receiver can decode the message in the public key algorithm system.

The ability of a system to protect information from being decoded is dependent on four factors: its power of protection to keep the key secret, the level of difficulty for a hacker to be able to guess possible keys, the nonexistence of additional ways to decrypt final messages other than by use of the right key, and the prevention from decrypting an entire message of that system even when parts of the decoding process are known. Unfortunately, each logarithm system can only have a finite number of keys. For those hackers who have the time and the computer skills, a system can be cracked ...