In today’s world, almost nothing is secured. Everything you can think of, such as our lives, properties, and belongings, all need one form of security or the other. Even our digital properties/data – that are free from physical dangers – are not safe.
This is where data encryption comes in. Data encryption refers to a technique of transforming readable data into unreadable forms, such as raw codes. The underlying reason for such change is to make such data inaccessible and unfathomable for unauthorized persons. Only authorized users with the proper encryption key can decrypt the transformed data.
Virtually all modern devices such as mobile phones, PC, etc., come equipped with several data encryption means. Even platforms on the internet, such as websites, apps, amongst several others, embrace data encryption in their architecture to safeguard unauthorized data access.
Now, the pertinent question is; does data encryption really inhibit breaches? Does encryption make data more secure or less secure? Well, the answer is simple – data encryption is not entirely faultless.
Depending on the type of encryption used, attackers can still try to bypass the encryption used. If you luckily use 256-bit AES encryption, you have nothing to worry about as it would take years for hackers to crack it. But if not, the possibility of a speedy hack rises tremendously.
Even where 256-bit AES encryption has been used, hackers can still attempt to access your precious data through other means.
Encryption protects data that has been encrypted, meaning that other data that aren’t encrypted are open to threats. For instance, a VPN could be used to encrypt an internet connection, but you bet that online accounts can still get hacked if the hosts or providers haven’t encrypted communications. For instance, most email providers nowadays encrypt emails exchanged by their users. The major setback here is the same privilege doesn’t extend to emails sent out-of-network. That is, where the mail is sent to an account hosted by another mail provider different from the sender.
With the above, it is evident that one cannot conclusively say encryption makes data totally safe or secured. There are several other things involved, which an encrypted platform vendor or user has to pay utmost attention to.
If you are unsure if you are exposed to liability, contact us to schedule a consultation and discovery session with one of our expert data protection lawyers.