EncryptionEncryption is a means of protecting information from unauthorized viewing or use. This is particularly important during transmission of data, or when it is stored on a transportable medium; at such times data is particularly vulnerable. Encryption systems can benefit the ordinary WWW user; when you need to send a really private email messages, or to order an item online including credit card information, you need an encryption system.
Most encryption systems are based on a one or two key system, without which the information cannot be decoded. A system that uses one key is called a private key system; such a system requires that both the sender and recipient have the same secret private key. A public key system of encryption uses two keys, the public key can be given out to anyone, but the private key is secret. A message sent by a public key system can be encrypted using either the public or the private key, once received, this message can then be decrypted by using the other key.
Two of the better known encryption systems are: the Data Encryption Standard and the Rivest Shamir, and Adelman (RSA) algorithm. Data Encryption Standard, or DES, developed by the U.S. National Bureau of Standards, is a one key, government standard algorithm for encrypting and decrypting data. Because DES has been around since 1975, it is available for many platforms, including Mac and PC. The RSA encryption system is another popular system and is widely thought to be unbreakable. The RSA encryption system is a two key system.
One of the reasons that some netizens are leary of a government sponsored encryption program can be traced to the Clipper Chip proposal of the early 1990's. The Clipper Chip was a U.S. government proposal that would have provided a standard encryption format for electronically transmitted data. It had the drawback of including a "backdoor" that would be available to law enforcement agencies to use for electronic eavesdropping. This eavesdropping would have been subject to the same restrictions as are currently applied to wiretapping. The disadvantage of employing a system that is known to have a "backdoor" is that such paths make the system more vulnerable to unauthorized access.