What Is Encryption? – Definition, Types & More | Proofpoint US

Triple DES Encryption

Triple DES was designed to replace the original Data Encryption Standard (DES) algorithm, which hackers easily defeated. At one time, Triple DES was the recommended standard and the most widely used symmetric algorithm in the industry.

Triple DES uses three individual keys with 56 bits each. The total key length adds up to 168 bits, but experts say 112 bits in key strength is more like it.

Though it is slowly being phased out, Triple DES is still a dependable hardware encryption solution for financial services and other industries.

RSA is a public-key encryption algorithm and the standard for encrypting data sent over the internet. It is also one of the methods used in PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) and GPG (GNU Privacy Guard) programs.

Unlike Triple DES, RSA is considered an asymmetric encryption algorithm because it uses a pair of keys. The public key encrypts a message, and a private key decrypts it. It takes attackers quite a bit of time and processing power to break this encryption code.

The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is the algorithm trusted as the standard by the U.S. government and many other organizations.

Although it is extremely efficient in 128-bit form, AES encryption also uses keys of 192 and 256 bits for heavy-duty encryption.

Blowfish is a symmetric encryption algorithm used to encrypt and decrypt data. Its known for its high speed and efficiency, and it is often used in software applications that require fast encryption and decryption.

A symmetric encryption algorithm similar to Blowfish but considered more secure, Twofish is commonly used in software applications requiring high levels of security, such as financial and healthcare applications.

Also a symmetric encryption algorithm, RC4 is widely used in software applications that require fast encryption and decryption. However, RC4 is now considered insecure and is no longer recommended.

The rest is here:
What Is Encryption? - Definition, Types & More | Proofpoint US