What are the 3 types of encryption and how do they work?

As our society becomes increasingly dependent on technology and digital communication, the importance of paying attention to security and data protection issues grows. Between emails, electronic signatures and social media, the types of encryption reveal themselves as an essential tool, playing a crucial role in protecting sensitive information and ensuring privacy.

Throughout this article, we will explain how encryption works, highlighting its applications and limitations, so that you understand its importance and functioning in protecting sensitive information. Let's go?

What is encryption?

In essence, encryption is nothing more than the process of transforming readable information into an unintelligible format, that is, encrypted, in order to protect it against unauthorized access. However, the ability to decrypt this encrypted information is preserved as long as you have the appropriate decryption key.

The operation of encryption is based on complex mathematical algorithms that convert original data, known as plain text, into encoded data, also called cipher text. These algorithms use encryption keys, which are specific sequences of numbers or characters, to perform the transformation.

The 3 different types of encryption

Cryptography plays a fundamental role in protecting electronic information – especially in these highly digitized times. There are three main types of encryption that we list below.

Symmetric encryption

Symmetric encryption, known as single-key encryption, is a system that stands out for its simplicity and efficiency in transferring large volumes of data. 

In this system, a single key is used to both encrypt and decrypt data. To do so, the sender and recipient of the message must both have and share the same key, in order to guarantee secure communication.

A common application scenario for symmetric encryption is the protection of email messages. For example, the Pretty Good Privacy Protocol (PGP) uses this type of encryption to protect the content of email messages between senders and recipients. 

This ensures that only authorized parties can access the message content, maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of communications.

Speed ​​is a prominent feature of symmetric encryption – which makes it ideal for real-time communications such as chats, video calls and large-scale file transfers. 

Furthermore, the method requires fewer computational resources compared to asymmetric encryption, which makes it especially efficient in resource-constrained environments.

However, symmetric encryption also has a small disadvantage: the need to share the encryption key. The security of this system depends on rigorously maintaining the confidentiality of the shared key – at the risk of seriously compromising communication security.

Asymmetric encryption

Asymmetric cryptography, or public key cryptography, is a sophisticated and vital system in the field of cybersecurity. It differs from symmetric encryption systems in that it involves two distinct keys: a public key and a private key. This fundamental difference has significant implications for the way data is protected and authenticated.

Here, the key used to encrypt information is widely known and publicly shared, making it accessible to anyone. The private key, kept in absolute secrecy, is the only way to decrypt data encrypted with the public key, ensuring that only the legitimate recipient, who holds the corresponding private key, can access the information.

This approach gives asymmetric encryption a superior level of security, making it an essential element of internet security.

Finally, asymmetric encryption plays a key role in website authentication. When you connect to a secure website, it provides a digital certificate which includes your public key, ensuring that you are communicating with the legitimate site and not an impostor – which is essential for protecting users from fake or malicious sites.

Hash encryption

Hash encryption is a powerful tool for protecting data integrity and verifying the authenticity of information. In this process, data is transformed into a fixed-length alphanumeric sequence, known as a “hash.” What makes hash encryption especially advantageous is its fundamental characteristic of irreversibility.

When documents, files or information in general are subjected to hash encryption, a unique hash is generated based on the original content. Any change to the data, no matter how small, will result in a drastic change in the hash. 

This principle makes hash encryption an exceptional tool for verifying data integrity. If you have a reference hash of the original data, you can easily compare it to the current hash to detect any changes or corruption in the data.

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Difference Between Encryption Types and Encryption Codes

It is important to understand the distinction between the types of encryption we discussed earlier and encryption codes. Encryption types refer to general data protection approaches. 

Encryption codes, on the other hand, are specific algorithms designed to implement these approaches. Check out the main encryption codes below.

DES

DES is one of the first widely adopted symmetric encryption codes. It operates with 64-bit data blocks and a 56-bit encryption key. However, DES became vulnerable to brute force attacks due to the limited key size.

DES-X

DES-X is an extension to DES that improves security through an additional encryption process. It uses a 64-bit key and runs standard DES twice to strengthen encryption.

triple des

Triple DES is an evolution of DES that runs standard DES three times, with one, two or three different keys. This provides an additional layer of security, making it more resistant to attacks.

BEA

AES is one of the most widely used symmetric encryption algorithms. It operates with 128-bit data blocks and 128-, 192-, or 256-bit keys. Its computational strength and security have made it the de facto standard in many applications.

RSA

RSA is a widely used asymmetric encryption algorithm. It uses a pair of keys, one public and one private, to encrypt and decrypt information. RSA is crucial in authentication and in protecting symmetric keys used in secure communications.

SAFER

SAFER is a family of symmetric encryption codes with different variants such as SAFER K-64 and SAFER K-128. They operate with 64-bit blocks and 64- or 128-bit keys, offering varying levels of security.

Blowfish

Blowfish is a symmetric encryption algorithm that operates with 64-bit blocks and 32- to 448-bit keys. It is known for its speed and efficiency and is still widely used to encrypt data.

IDEA

IDEA is a symmetric encryption algorithm that operates with 64-bit blocks and 128-bit keys. It is mainly used in systems that require high data security, such as payment applications and secure communications.

Twofish

Twofish is another symmetric encryption algorithm that operates with 128-bit blocks and 128, 192, or 256-bit keys. It is known for its effectiveness and security in various cryptography applications.

Camellia

Camellia is a symmetric encryption algorithm that operates with 128-bit blocks and 128-, 192-, or 256-bit keys. It is mainly used in security protocols such as IPsec to protect communication networks.

The importance of encryption in online security

Online security is a fundamental concern in our digitally interconnected world. In this sense, encryption represents a decisive agent in protecting confidential information and ensuring that data remains private and secure during online communication, transactions and interactions.

When you enter payment information into an e-commerce site, such as credit card numbers, encryption comes into play. It encrypts this information before sending it to the retailer's server. 

This prevents malicious third parties from intercepting and stealing sensitive financial data. Without encryption, transactions online would be extremely vulnerable to fraud and information theft.

Cryptography plays a vital role in security processes electronic signature. When you signs a document electronically, encryption is applied to protect the signature and ensure it cannot be forged. 

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This is especially important in areas such as contracts legal documents, bank authorizations and government documents, where authenticity and security are essential.

By the way, now that we have reached the end of this article and you already know what types of encryption are, as well as how they work, how about knowing how security works when signing contracts? in your company?

So, stay with us and click here to download our free ebook on legal validity in electronic signatures!