Privacy is critical when your organization is working online – working with confidential or personal information makes you vulnerable to cyberattacks and spies.
Encryption can help protect any data you send or collect by scrambling the message when it’s in transit. But how exactly does encryption work?
What is Encryption?
Encryption is an internal process that scrambles messages that anyone sends across the web. Only the person with the decryption code can access the information to secure its contents.
Whether your data is stored in the cloud or on a physical server connected to the internet, they hold a lot of personal and confidential information regarding you and your business. It’s critical to know how to protect your data from spies and scammers. Encryption is essential in maintaining privacy.
How Does Encryption Work?
An example of encryption that we all unknowingly experience every day is sending and receiving emails. Encryption works to scramble the text until it reaches the recipient who holds the credentials to decrypt it and make the message readable.
The encryption works on both ends of the message to ensure your messages remain private to anyone who shouldn’t see the email. This works for person to person and for significantly identifying information like government login portals and banking e-transfers.
Why Is Encryption Important?
Encryption is necessary for several reasons:
- Regulations demand it – For businesses and organizations where privacy is non-negotiable, they require encryption. For example, law firms, insurance companies, health care providers, and other industries are mandated to have the most up-to-date encryption practices.
- Everyday privacy concerns are serious – There are constant improvements in internet safety and security, but cyberattacks are always close behind. From public networks to out-of-date operating systems and browsers, many factors leave you vulnerable. Encryption is a major line of defence in protecting sensitive data.
- Data accuracy – Encryption doesn’t only maintain privacy but also thwarts on-path attacks. Malicious cyber threats can attach themselves to data while it’s in transit to its destination – encryption helps information get to where it needs to be without tampering.
Can Scammers Overcome Encryption?
Even though encryption is powerful, dedicated attackers will try to find the decryption key by making millions of guesses until they reveal the right one. You need the most updated encryption to protect yourself and your business against malicious attacks.
You can’t rely only on encryption to do it all – strong passwords and two-factor authentication are additional barriers to implement. With all these protective measures working together, you’re in the best position to maintain security.
How To Protect Against Cyberattacks
Cyberattacks are everywhere, so there are some best practices to adopt for your protection:
- Be wary of unfamiliar emails – You get dozens of emails a day. While it saves time to open them and scan for information reflexively, it’s worth looking at the sender before opening. Email providers aren’t perfect at filtering out spam, so you still should be diligent about protecting your account.
- Update operating systems – You should prioritize updating your operating systems and software when prompted. Updates automatically include security patches to keep you safe from malicious attacks.
- Make backups – Consider having several backups – on the cloud and an external physical drive – to recover from data disasters more easily.
Consider outsourcing your business IT needs to save you time and energy – our experts stay up to date on all the latest updates and cyber threats, so you don’t have to. Our managed services include maintaining your offsite and cloud backups with many more services.
Contact Foresight for IT to discuss your needs and learn what services best suit your business.