What is the best encryption strategy for protecting your data?

Data encryption is a method that transforms plaintext data into encrypted data known as ciphertext. Encryption can be used to decrypt the encrypted message. Both data at rest and data in use are the methods of encrypting files. An Encryption Strategy can be combined with authentication services to guarantee that only authorized users can access your organization’s data.

Data encryption is typical of two types

1. Symmetric Encryption
2. Asymmetric Encryption

States of the Data

There are three basic states of data within any organization. Data must be safeguarded throughout its lifecycle if it is to be secure.

1. Data at Rest
2. Data in Motion
3. Data in Use

For Example: Suppose Bob wants to send Alice a picture of a cheeseburger. Bob took the picture on his smartphone, which has stored it ever since – the cheeseburger photo is currently data at rest. Bob views the photo and attaches it to an email, which loads the photo into memory – it becomes data in use (specifically by his phone’s photo viewer and email applications). Bob taps “Send” and the email with the attached photo travels over the internet to Alice’s email service; it has become data in transit.

Data at Rest

Data at rest encryption is like locking away important papers in a safe. Only those with the key can access the stored papers; similarly, only parties with the encryption key can access data at rest. Encrypting data at rest protects it from negative outcomes like data breaches, unauthorized access, and physical theft. Without the key, the data is useless.

There are different types of technologies to protect the data, which are as follows

FDE (Full Disk Encryption)

For PCs, laptops, and portable electronic devices that can be lost or stolen, FDE is very helpful. The encrypted data will be inaccessible to the thief even if the device is taken. Because one key is used to encrypt the entire hard drive, FDE requires network administrators to enforce a strong password policy and provide an encryption key backup process in case employees forget their passwords or leave the company unexpectedly.

FDE works by automatically converting data on a hard drive into a format that can’t be understood by anyone who doesn’t have the key to undo the conversion. In particular, the hard drive is changed from plaintext that can be read to a ciphertext that can only be read after being converted back to plaintext using a key. Even if the hard drive is taken out and put in another system, the data won’t be accessible without the right authentication key.

FDE is often installed on computing devices at the time of manufacturing. For instance, BitLocker, which is present in some versions of Microsoft Windows, and FileVault, which is part of the macOS operating system, both enable FDE. The users of BitLocker and FileVault can retrieve forgotten passwords. FileVault backs up encryption keys to Apple iCloud, while BitLocker keeps recovery data on Active Directory.

On all Windows-based devices, Microsoft also provides Device Encryption, which secures data by encrypting the drive.

MDM (Mobile Device Management)

MDM technology manages data on mobile devices. They allow limiting access?to some corporate?applications, restricting access to the device, or encrypting data on mobile or tablet devices. They serve the same purpose as regular encryption if a device is lost, but when the data is transported outside of the device, it does not remain encrypted.

Data at rest still makes an attractive target for attackers, who may aim to encrypt the data and hold it for ransom, steal the data, or corrupt or wipe the data. No matter the method, the end goal is to access the data at rest and take malicious actions

• Ransomware is a type of malware that, once it enters a system, encrypts data at rest, rendering it unusable. Ransomware attackers decrypt the data once the victim pays a fee.
• A data breach can occur if data at rest is moved or leaked into an unsecured environment. Data breaches can be intentional, such as when an external attacker or malicious insider purposefully accesses the data to copy or leak it. They can also be accidental, such as when a server is left exposed to the public Internet, leaking the data stored within.
• Physical theft can impact data at rest if someone steals the laptop, tablet, smartphone, or other devices on which the data at rest lives.

How to secure Data at Rest

• Implementing encryption solutions is one of the finest and simplest ways for businesses to start shielding their data at rest from employee negligence. Organizations can encrypt employee hard drives using native data encryption tools provided by operating systems, such as Windows BitLocker and macOS’ FileVault. This guarantees that if someone stole the device, then he would not be able to access it without an encryption key, even when booting a computer using a USB.
• We should also provide physical security to devices and storage media where data is stored. It should be difficult for an attacker to physically access a device or storage media and steal the data. For example, if a company keeps sensitive data in file servers, databases, or workstations, then the physical security of the building is essential.

Data in Motion

If data is not encrypted when being transported between devices, it could be intercepted, taken, or leaked. Data in motion is frequently encrypted to prevent interception because it is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks , for instance. It should always be encrypted whenever data travels across any internal or external networks.

Data in motion can be encrypted using the following methods:

1. TLS/SSL
2. HTTPS
3. IPsec

How to Secure Data in Motion

1. Encrypt the data itself before the data travels over a network. For example, if we are transmitting data over the internet, we should first encrypt the data and then transmit it.
2. If data is transmitted over a connection, we should use encryption to secure the connection first. For example, if data is transmitted between two hosts, we can use a VPN to establish a secure connection between the two hosts first and then transmit the data.

Data in Use

In environments where either the keys or the data are in use, alternate controls are typically offered since decryption keys and decrypted data must be fully unavailable to an attacker for encryption to provide security. When using cloud services, businesses should search for a distributed solution like an HSM to keep their keys safe and independent of the service provider.

How to secure Data in Use

1. We should use encryption to encrypt the data wherever possible.
2. We should take proper security measures to ensure that data in use is not being shared with unauthorized parties illegitimately or accidentally.

Email-Encryption

Asymmetric or Public Key Infrastructure encryption (PKI) is the most used method of email security ?or managing key distribution and validation, PKI is frequently used, and consists of the following.

1. An organization that issues and validates digital certificates or a certificate authority (CA) . A certificate is a digital record that proves a public key’s ownership.
2. Before issuing a digital certificate to a requestor, a registration authority (RA) serves as the certificate authority’s verifier.
3. Information can be made secret or hidden by the Encryption process, which is based on a mathematical technique called a cipher. A code (or key) is needed to decrypt the information for the intended receivers for Encryption to perform. Data that isn’t encrypted is known as Plain text, while encrypted data is known as cipher text .

How does email encryption work

Public-key cryptography, also known as asymmetric Encryption, is the basis for email encryption. A set of keys-public and private-will be assigned to each email address. The public key encrypts messages as they are sent and is available to everyone. The email account’s owner is the only one with access to the private key. Only the associated private key can decrypt the messages once the public key has encrypted them into an unreadable jumble.

To protect them from being deliberately targeted by an attacker, we must encrypt all our emails, not just those that contain critical information. Email encryption offers protection from potentially harmful links or impersonation of identities as scams like phishing and spoofing grow more common. Data sent via email is secured with end-to-end email encryption so that only the sender and the receiver can access and read it.

Applications of Email Encryption

1. Eavesdropping
2. Spamming and Phishing
3. Spoofing

Building your strategy

Seven essential components might aid in the development of a successful end-to-end strategy

1. SSL Decryption
2. Key Management
3. Certificate Management
4. Communication with HSMs
5. Collaboration

Conclusion

There are several software solutions that can help &?protect the data, even though they have different vulnerabilities and attack routes. Data in motion and at rest are both protected by firewalls, antivirus software, DLP tools, and with encryption strategies. Data exists in three states: data at rest, data in use, and data in motion, depending on its movements. Data that is not transmitted from one device to another or from one network to another is referred to as data at rest. Local data on computer hard drives, archived data in databases, file systems, and storage infrastructure are all included.

Data that is currently being updated, processed, erased, accessed, or read by a system that is kept in IT infrastructures like RAM, databases, or CPUs is referred to as data that is in use. This kind of data is actively being stored, not passively. On the other hand, Data is transferred from one location to another, whether between computers, or virtual machines, from an endpoint to cloud storage or across a private or public network. Data in motion becomes data at rest once it gets to its destination.

To learn more about data protection strategy, visit Encryption Consulting