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 Kraken ransomware, which targets Windows, Linux/VMware ESXi systems, is testing machines to check how fast it can encrypt data without overloading them. [...]
Kerberoasting attacks let hackers steal service account passwords and escalate to domain admin, often without triggering alerts. Specops Software shares how auditing AD passwords, enforcing long unique credentials, and using AES encryption can shut these attacks down early. [...]
A sudden CPU spike turned out to be the first clue of an in-progress RansomHub ransomware attack. Varonis breaks down how their team traced the attack from fake browser updates to domain-admin takeover, ultimately stopping the attack before files were encrypted. [...]
Encryption protects content, not context Mischief-makers can guess the subjects being discussed with LLMs using a side-channel attack, according to Microsoft researchers. They told The Register that models from some providers, including Anthropic, AWS, DeepSeek, and Google, haven't been fixed, putting both personal users and enterprise communications at risk.…