Stay secure with the latest encryption news, trends, and best practices in information security. Protect your data with cutting-edge cryptography.
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Background for this topic.
Encryption transforms readable data into ciphertext using an algorithm and a key, so someone who obtains the ciphertext cannot normally understand it without the required key. It protects confidentiality for data in transit, such as traffic between services, and at rest, such as files, databases, and backups. Encryption does not by itself prove who sent data, prevent tampering, or protect plaintext displayed on a compromised endpoint.
Its security therefore depends on implementation and key management. Attackers may target stolen, exposed, or overprivileged keys, weak algorithms or protocols, poor randomness, and systems that decrypt data unnecessarily. Use modern, authenticated encryption where appropriate; protect keys separately from encrypted data with tightly limited access, rotation and revocation procedures, and monitored use. Verify that encryption covers relevant backups and internal service links, while recognizing that lost keys can make recovery impossible and that encrypted traffic may still reveal metadata such as timing or endpoints.
The encrypted messaging app was hacked in the wake of an online scam before access was "swiftly restored."
Combining robust decryption and orchestration of encrypted traffic with threat prevention is crucial to staying ahead of attackers.
A flaw related to the PKCS #1 v1.5 padding in SSL servers discovered in 1998 and believed to have been resolved still impacts several widely-used projects today. [...]