Importance of Encryption in this Data Breaches Age

The dismal news about internet security that people keep receiving these days is alarming. In 2020, data breaches rose by over 20% between January and September. More so, users are becoming aware of how important data encryption is to protect their data.  Meanwhile, a significant development is by making the web sign-in safer.

To know if a website is secure,  you should notice a green lock just beside its address. It indicates that the page you have accessed has taken you through HTTPS. It is a secure web protocol that is different from the plain HTTP that we used in old times.

Unsecured connection, interactions, and websites have been haunting users for a long time. Therefore, companies continually issue policies guiding how they should deal with users’ data. However, everything does not work under proper encryption and lots of entities might still overlook it.

You still belong under scrutiny

With the introduction of HTTPS, certain entities have developed the means of watching over your shoulder. When you visit a particular website, it is not hidden by HTTPS. Rather, it ensures that anyone who is spying on you will find it harder to read your information. It makes it difficult for spies to gain access to whatever you read or post on the internet. Morever, it guarantees that you get to see only what the creators of the website want you to.

• With no encryption, content on a certain webpage is replaced by repressive institutions. It makes it easier for malicious entities to corrupt the authentic content.
• Moreover,  data encryption mistakes can allow hackers to easily steal confidential data.

Thus, encryption must be chosen and implemented successfully. If not done so, you make your organizers and device vulnerable to attackers and breachers.

Enhancement of security

Original HTTPS protocol was released in 1995. The encryption of websites, on the other hand, has been in existence for quite some time now. Companies can now protect your payment details while online transactions. This will ensure that the merchants, from whom you are making the purchase, are genuine.

The technology being used is known as Secure Socket Layer or SSL in short form. However, Transport Layer Security (TLS), and the SSL’s successor came later in years. We will be able to use it beyond just credit card payments.

Most website owners do not see any benefit in encryption. In contrast, criminals use sophisticated technology to steal unencrypted passwords and state altering websites. This is the reason why encryption brings about a greater significance.

As time goes by, prominent websites such as the New York Times, Wikipedia, Facebook, etc. have opted for HTTPS. In late 2015, Google took the initiative for that. It made a declaration to favor websites with HTTPS protocol. That is one of the major reasons why most websites opted for it.

The challenges and solutions

Encryption is a very critical component. It is used for safeguarding sensitive information, which includes many details. Encyption has a risk to exploit them. Therefore, as much as data breaches are unforgiving: it means that they can either happen, or they do not.

If it happens, it will be difficult for companies to retain their reputation. It will destroy the reputation of the company. Some customers might even decide to opt for other competitors. This can lead to a blockage in business growth. Thus, if businesses want to compete, protecting their client’s data should come on the top of their priority list.

Loopholes

A 2014 discovery claims that even the HTTPS protocol has certain limitations. This flaw called Heartbleed,  had made it weak. This is a technical issue.

However, another thing one should worry about is the protocols being reliable on certificate authorities. The protocol depends on certificate authorities, such as Let’s Encrypt.

For example, if hackers hijack the Let’s Encrypt certificate authority, they may hijack certificates. They can sometimes even create issues that are false. This means that people generally aren’t as safe as they think they are.

Since HTTPS cannot cover everything, you can should take wise steps to protect yourself. You should take precautions.

For example, a Virtual Private Network refers to an application that is used to encrypt your internet traffic and protect your connections to each website. Therefore, tools like Atlas VPN also help to hide your IP address and make you more anonymous online making sure that no one can track your location. This is also one of the best solutions to theft and data interception due to the lack of encryption on networks and websites.

Conclusion

With an increase in cybercrime and the fact that states are looking for more control over user data, encryption has assumed a greater significance and will continue playing a role. Perhaps, we already see users that are moving to technologies like end-to-end encryption which means that nobody, not even the service providers can see the traffic you initiate using the platform. In addition, always pay more attention to the encryption information available on each of the websites that you visit and be sure to check on how certain companies keep your data or information from other violations and breaches.