Everyday there are most likely millions of transactions made that involve the exchange of private info. Clearly, those that provide that info want to know the info they send is safe and secure. On the web, making info secure is handled by encrypting the info before it is sent, and decrypting it once it reaches its destination. Definition of Encryption is the method of encoding info to guarantee that unapproved parties can’t view it. When data is encoded, the info is first passed thru an algorithm and is converted into hypertext, which is the encrypted information. To do the encryption, a key or code offered by you is used to encrypt the info that will make the encryption tough to crack. There are 2 systems used for encryption: Symmetric-key encryption and Public-key encryption (asymmetric). The subsequent section will debate the 2 systems. Encryption Systems a symmetric-key encryption system uses a secret key or code to encode the info. When the data is passed to another PC, the code is passed along separately. The second PC then uses the secret code to decode the data. A symmetric-key system is fast but isn’t as secure as the public-key system. If somebody were to intercept the information and the code, then they could decode the information. In a public-key system there are 2 keys: a public key and a personal key. A public key is given out by a secured PC to any PC that wants to create a safe communication.

When the info is too passed from the customer’s PC, it is first encoded with the general public key and then sent to the secured PC.

The secured PC then uses the personal key with the general public key to decode the information. Number of Public Keys So how many keys are possible for encryption? It all relies on the bit strength of the encryption. The bit strength of the encryption can alter like 40-bit or 128-bit. To get the amount of keys, simply raise two to the power of the bit strength. As an example, for 128-bit encryption the quantity of possible keys is two to the power of 128 or 340,282,366,920,938,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 keys. Even though it may look like determining the right key is most unlikely, just remember that computers are getting stronger, so it is taking less time to ascertain the key thru raw force. Brute power. This is not to say that your info isn’t secure, as it takes a while to break 128-bit encryption, at least to the point at which it might not be worth while.