There are three basic encryption methods: hashing, symmetric encryption, and asymmetric encryption. Each of these encryption methods has its own uses, advantages, and disadvantages. Hashing, for example, is very resistant to manipulation, but not as flexible as other methods. All three forms of encryption are based on encryption, or the science of data encoding.
Hashing is a type of encryption method that is particularly resistant to hacking but is less flexible than other encryption methods.
basic function
People use cryptography to change human-readable text, called plaintext, to an unreadable secret format, called ciphertext. Data encryption offers additional benefits beyond protecting the confidentiality of a message. These benefits include ensuring that messages are not altered in transit and verifying the identity of the sender. All of these benefits can be achieved using any of these encryption methods.
Numbers, letters, and symbols are replaced with readable information in the encryption.
hash encryption
The first encryption method, called hashing, creates a unique, fixed-length signature for a message or set of data. Hashes are created with a hash algorithm or function, and people often use them to compare data sets. Since a hash is unique to a specific message, even small changes to that message result in a radically different hash, alerting the user to a potential violation.
An important difference between hashing and the other two encryption methods is that once the data is encrypted, the process cannot be reversed or decrypted. This means that even if a potential attacker could obtain a hash, he would not be able to use a decryption method to discover the content of the original message. Some common hash algorithms are Message Digest 5 (MD5) and Secure Hashing Algorithm (SHA).
Symmetric methods
Symmetric encryption, also called private key encryption, is one of the oldest and most secure encryption methods. The term “private key” comes from the fact that the key used to encrypt and decrypt data must remain secure because anyone with access to it can read the encrypted messages. A sender encrypts a ciphertext message using a key, and the receiver uses the same key to decrypt it.
People can use this encryption method as a “stream” cipher or a “block” cipher, depending on how much data is encrypted or decrypted at one time. A stream cipher encrypts data, one character at a time, as it is sent or received, while a block cipher processes fixed blocks of data. Common symmetric encryption algorithms include Data Encryption Standard (DES), Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), and International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA).
asymmetric shapes
Asymmetric or public key cryptography is potentially more secure than symmetric encryption methods. This type of cryptography uses two keys, a “private” key and a “public key,” to perform encryption and decryption. Using two keys overcomes a major weakness in symmetric key cryptography, as a single key does not need to be securely managed between multiple users.
In asymmetric cryptography, a public key is freely available to everyone and is used to encrypt messages before they are sent. A different private key remains with the recipient of the encrypted text messages, who uses it to decrypt them. Algorithms that use public key encryption methods include RSA and Diffie-Hellman.
