The story of End-to-End Encryption

In this age of technology, where protection and privacy are of great essence, people have come across the term ‘encryption.’ However, what is encryption, or what is the reason behind end-to-end encryption? Let’s understand it a little more conventionally.

What is Encryption?

Encryption is like locking a diary with a combination lock. Imagine you have a secret message you want to share with a friend. If you just write it down and give it to them, anyone who finds it could read it. But if you lock it in a diary and only give the combination to your friend, only they can unlock and read your message.

Encryption performs a similar function in the virtual environment as well. It takes information in a readable format and makes it unreadable to those without the appropriate key. This ensures that even if a person has the data that was supposed to be sent, they will not know what that data is about without the key.

What is End-to-End Encryption?

End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is like that locked diary with the combination you and your friend share. But in this case, it applies to your digital conversations, like emails or messages.

When we say that a particular app or service is implementing end-to-end encryption, we say that no third party other than yourself and the person you’re relaying the messages to can read those. The messages you send are protected and cannot be intercepted by anyone – the service provider, hackers, or anybody. Here’s how it works:

Initial Encryption: As soon as you type your message and hit the send button, the message gets encoded on your gadget, turning it into a code that looks gibberish to anyone who intercepts it.

Sending the Message: The secured message travels across the internet

Final Decryption: At this point, only the device of the recipient of this particular message has the capability to convert the code back(decrypt) to its readable text.

This technique makes sure that your message will be protected from any stage of the thorough operational mechanism about security.

Why is End-to-end encryption necessary?

Privacy: Thanks to the E2EE, prying eyes can’t eavesdrop on your private conversations. Others can’t read what you have written except the person you mean to.

Protection from Hackers:?Even if someone hacks your email and finds the message you sent, the hacker still can’t decipher it without the key.

Secure Sharing of Information:?It safeguards unauthorized personnel from sensitive data, including personal information and even financial deals.

What Happens If There Is No End to End Encryption?

Without E2EE, your data is vulnerable. Imagine sending an email or a message without encryption. What if there is an interloper who gets access to the email? This is quite unsettling, especially when dealing with sensitive information like bank details or personal conversations.

For example, if you’re using an app that doesn’t have E2EE, and If someone manages to break into the app's servers, all of your messages could be read, and privacy/security would be breached/compromised.

A Brief History of Encryption

Encryption has been around for thousands of years. Ancient civilizations like the Egyptians and Greeks used simple ciphers to protect communications. During this period, the science of cryptography began to evolve with the invention of highly comprehensive encryption systems during World War II and the development of complex techniques. One of the most famous early examples is the Enigma machine used by the Germans, which was eventually cracked by Allied codebreakers.

Digital encryption has become more sophisticated in recent decades. Today, algorithmic approaches such as RSA and AES help secure any digital information.

Use Case: WhatsApp Messaging

In this section, we will try to consider one example which illustrates how the implementation of end-to-end encryption might look like: sending messages using WhatsApp.

Without End-to-End Encryption:

Unsecured Messages: In the absence of E2EE as in WhatsApp, it means that those Undesignated Users may have access to the messages that you sent to someone, so long as this message is stored at WhatsApp’s servers. So any of the company or any hack of the company can go and read every single private message you ever have.

Lack of Privacy: There was always a risk that someone would discover and obtain illegal access to these conversations and read them themselves.

With End-to-End Encryption:

Secure Communication: Essentially, every message sent on WhatsApp leverages encryption from beginning to end. Thus, with the aid of a special encoding application, only the device of the intended recipient has the capacity to disclose the content without further informing them of the details.

Protection Against Interception: Even if someone intercepts the message, they’ll only see encrypted data that they cannot read without the decryption key.

Confidential Chats: Your messages will be visible to no one, including WhatsApp, and only the sender and the receiver will be privy to the information sent, including text or connected visual content.

Such a necessity, in turn, ensures that your chats are well-guarded and safe from eavesdroppers, further making interactions more secure.

By and large

The end-to-end encryption technique is of great help in preventing any intrusions into our interactions as well as our private lives. As it is true that every individual has the right to information and that every individual should respect the rights of others, then understanding the nature and scope of E2EE will give you choices in how to protect your information. It will also be crucial when new technologies are molded to keep more complex data more securely.

Do not hesitate to reproduce this document and promote the message that end-to-end encryption must be made from the bottom up.