{"id":2243,"date":"2022-03-21T14:25:44","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T14:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/?page_id=2243"},"modified":"2022-03-23T10:26:28","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T10:26:28","slug":"symmetric-encryption","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/symmetric-encryption\/","title":{"rendered":"Symmetric Encryption"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Introduction<\/h2>\n
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Introduction to Encryption<\/h3>\n

What is encryption?<\/p>\n

Encryption is the processing of scrambled data so that only authorized people can view the contents. Unencrypted data, known as plain-text,<\/em> is encoded(encrypted) into scrambled\u00a0cypher-text\u00a0<\/em>using an\u00a0encryption algorithm <\/em>and a pseudo-random\u00a0encryption key.\u00a0<\/em>The data is then transmitted or stored and when the data needs to be accessed it is decrypted using the key.<\/p>\n

Why do we need encryption?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The need for secrecy when storing and transmitting data has been an issue for thousands of years – the Roman Empire used the Caesar-cypher to send messages securely between generals and the Nazis used the Enigma Machine to encrypt their messages.<\/p>\n

However it is only since the widespread adoption of computer networks, and especially the internet, that encryption taken a central role in everyday life. Billions of people use the internet everyday for online shopping, banking and email. All of the data for these tasks is send across the internet, a publicly accessible network where data can be intercepted by anyone at any time and any data that is sent in plaintext can easily be read.<\/p>\n

It is essential that internet traffic is encrypted, so that when you enter your credit-card details for online shopping or your password for a website, anybody eavesdropping on the network cannot easily access that information.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>

Symmetric Encryption<\/h2>\n
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What is symmetric encryption?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Symmetric encryption (also know as private key encryption) is a form of encryption whereby the same private\/symmetric key<\/em> is used to both encrypt and decrypt the data.<\/p>\n

The plaintext data is passed to an encryption algorithm and the algorithm uses the key to encode the data into cypher-text. This data is then sent to the recipient who uses the same key to decrypt the data.<\/p>\n

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With Symmetric Encryption the same key is used to both encrypt and decrypt the data<\/p><\/div>\n

This form of encryption is highly efficient and is generally effective as long as a sufficiently long encryption key is used (most websites currently use a 256bit key for standard encryption).<\/p>\n

It is important to note that encrypted data is never 100% secure and all standard encryption can be broken through the use of a brute-force attack, given sufficient computing power and time. However breaking 256 bit encryption would require huge amounts of computing power that is beyond the resources of most organisations and therefore is sufficient for everyday transmission of data such as passwords and credit card details.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>

Pros & Cons<\/h2>\n
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Advantages & Disadvantages of Symmetric Key Encryption<\/h3>\n

Advantages<\/strong><\/p>\n