5 Common Encryption Algorithms and the Unbreakables of the Future

Mchten Sie diesen Beitrag in Deutsch zu lesen? Lesen Sie die Deutsch-Version hier.

While security is an afterthought for many PC users, its a major priority for businesses of any size. It has to be when the Ponemon Institute tells us that security breaches are costing companies millions every year.

Even if you dont have millions to lose, protecting what you do have should be a high priority.

There are several forms of security technology available, but encryption is one that everyday computer users should know about.

Encryption is an interesting piece of technology that works by scrambling data so it is unreadable by unintended parties. Lets take a look at how it works with the email-friendly software PGP (or GPG for you open source people).

Say I want to send you a private message, so I encrypt it using either one of these programs. Heres the message:

wUwDPglyJu9LOnkBAf4vxSpQgQZltcz7LWwEquhdm5kSQIkQlZtfxtSTsmaw q6gVH8SimlC3W6TDOhhL2FdgvdIC7sDv7G1Z7pCNzFLp0lgB9ACm8r5RZOBi N5ske9cBVjlVfgmQ9VpFzSwzLLODhCU7/2THg2iDrW3NGQZfz3SSWviwCe7G mNIvp5jEkGPCGcla4Fgdp/xuyewPk6NDlBewftLtHJVf =PAb3

Once encrypted, the message literally becomes a jumbled mess of random characters. But, equipped with the secret passcode I text you, you can decrypt it and find the original message.

Come on over for hot dogs and soda!

Whether its in transit like our hot dog party email or resting on your hard drive, encryption works to keep prying eyes out of your business even if they happen to somehow gain access to your network or system.If you want to learn more about how encryption helps protect business data,you can read our article on how encryption aids cloud security.

The technology comes in many forms, with key size and strength generally being the biggest differences in one variety from the next.

Triple DES was designed to replace the original Data Encryption Standard (DES) algorithm, which hackers eventually learned to defeat with relative ease. 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 would argue that 112-bits in key strength is more like it.

Despite slowly being phased out, Triple DES still manages to make 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 also happens to be one of the methods used in our PGP and GPG programs.

Unlike Triple DES, RSA is considered an asymmetric algorithm due to its use of a pair of keys. Youve got your public key, which is what we use to encrypt our message, and a private key to decrypt it. The result of RSA encryption is a huge batch of mumbo jumbo that takes attackers quite a bit of time and processing power to break.

Blowfish is yet another algorithm designed to replace DES. This symmetric cipher splits messages into blocks of 64 bits and encrypts them individually.

Blowfish is known for both its tremendous speed and overall effectiveness as many claim that it has never been defeated. Meanwhile, vendors have taken full advantage of its free availability in the public domain.

Blowfish can be found in software categories ranging from e-commerce platforms for securing payments to password management tools, where it used to protect passwords. Its definitely one of the more flexible encryption methods available.

Computer security expert Bruce Schneier is the mastermind behind Blowfish and its successor Twofish. Keys used in this algorithm may be up to 256 bits in length and as a symmetric technique, only one key is needed.

Twofish is regarded as one of the fastest of its kind, and ideal for use in both hardware and software environments. Like Blowfish, Twofish is freely available to anyone who wants to use it. As a result, youll find it bundled in encryption programs such as PhotoEncrypt, GPG, and the popular open source software TrueCrypt.

The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is the algorithm trusted as the standard by the U.S. Government and numerous organizations.

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

AES is largely considered impervious to all attacks, with the exception of brute force, which attempts to decipher messages using all possible combinations in the 128, 192, or 256-bit cipher. Still, security experts believe that AES will eventually be hailed the de facto standard for encrypting data in the private sector.

Cyber attacks are constantly evolving, so security specialists must stay busy in the lab concocting new schemes to keep them at bay. Expert observers are hopeful that a new method called Honey Encryption will deter hackers by serving up fake data for every incorrect guess of the key code. This unique approach not only slows attackers down, but potentially buries the correct key in a haystack of false hopes. Then there are emerging methods like quantum key distribution, which shares keys embedded in photons over fiber optic, that might have viability now and many years into the future as well.

Whether its protecting your email communications or stored data, some type of encryption should be included in your lineup of security tools. Successful attacks on victims like Target show that its not 100 percent bulletproof, but without it, youre offering up convenient access to your data. Find some tools that give you a piece of mind and stick with em!

Continued here:
5 Common Encryption Algorithms and the Unbreakables of the Future

Types of Encryption | Office of Information Technology

Whole disk

Whole disk encryption, as the name implies, refers to the encryption of an entire physical or logical disk. While this is currently done mostly with software, hardware based disk encryption is a growing technology which is expected to surpass software products for whole disk encryption over the next few years. This form of encryption generally encrypts the entire contents of a disk or volume and decrypts/encrypts it during use after a key has been given. This means the data is protected from situations like laptop/disk loss or theft where the data would be encrypted and require a key to decrypt. It would not protect from situations like sending information over the network (e-mail, websites, etc) or from situations where the decryption key was already entered such as the user walking away from their logged-in computer.

When an individual wishes to encrypt a single file or group of files there are several options. Most encryption software has the ability to encrypt files individually using a password or other key. Many encryption programs have the ability to create an encrypted "virtual drive". This is an encrypted file that, when opened with the key, looks like another drive attached to the computer allowing the user to easily open and save files into an encrypted area. Some other applications, like MS Office and OpenOffice, have built-in, single-file encryption features.

This approach can protect against data disclosure on a lost or stolen computer, but only if all of the private information was encrypted. Individual file/folder encryption relies on user education and good practices to ensure that all appropriate information is encrypted.

Depending on how the encryption software is used, this approach can provide protection from data disclosure when transferring information over the network. E.g. an individual file can be encrypted and then sent as an email attachment, assuming the recipient has the ability to decrypt it.

Allowing multiple users to simultaneously access encrypted information is more complicated than a single user. The encryption software must allow the use of either multiple keys (i.e. one for each user) or a shared key (e.g. a shared password). Additionally, the software must deal with multi-user file locking issues (this is usually a problem with the virtual drive approach mentioned in the last section).

This approach can provide an additional layer of protection against the disclosure of highly confidential data on file servers in the event they are compromised. I can also help protect against disclosure on backup media as the files would remain encrypted when backed up.

This approach can get complicated if not all users have the encryption software installed, or they are not configured consistently. This could lead users being unable to access encrypted information or incorrectly believing they have encrypted information when they have not. For these reasons, special attention should be paid to how encryption software behaves and users should be educated to recognize the encryption status of files.

Encrypting information in a database can be done at a couple of levels. The application accessing the database can encrypt information before putting it into the database. This requires intelligence at the application level, but no additional database features. Many databases have built-in encryption functions which applications can use to encrypt data as it is written. This usually requires features at both the application and database level. An encryption application can sit between the application and database, encrypting/decrypting information as it is written and read. This requires buying and installing additional software, but may not require modifications to the application or database.

As mentioned earlier, some applications that arent specifically designed for encryption do have basic encryption functions. Most notably, common productivity suites like Microsoft Office and OpenOffice contain file encryption features. Be cautious of the quality of the built-in encryption features, even within the Microsoft Office product line, some versions (like Office 2007) have a good mechanism, others have poor ones (like Office 2000 and earlier) and still others require proper configuration to provide good protection (like Office 2003). These features can be very handy because they dont require additional licenses, require less training and can be effective for both in transit and at rest encryption. Additionally, they can work well for file exchange since the recipient is more likely to have the ability to decrypt the file. In short, built-in encryption functions can be convenient options, but you should research their effectiveness before using them.

There are a couple of different levels to encryption with email, first is encrypting just an attached file and second is encrypting an entire message. Encrypting an attached file can be accomplished using any single-file encryption process that "sticks" to the file. Naturally, the recipient must have a way of decrypting the file. There are only a couple of commonly used email message encryption technologies, most notably S/MIME and PGP. While S/MIME support is integrated into many email clients, it requires users to have trusted certificates which can be complicated to properly deploy. Using PGP to encrypt email requires installing software, but there are both free and commercial options.

Both of these technologies also allow for digital "signing" of email without encrypting it. This signing process allows the recipient to be certain a message was not altered in transit, but does not protect the content from prying eyes.

Encrypting information while in transit on a network is one of the most common, and important, uses of encryption. One of the most popular forms of this encryption is Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS), commonly used to encrypt web traffic in transit. Any web application that transmits or collects sensitive information should encrypt the information using SSL/TLS. There are a number of other uses for SSL/TLS encryption, including securing authentication for email communication between clients and servers. SSL/TLS can also be used for "tunneling" to encrypt other forms of network transmission that dont have their own encryption features.

Another common network encryption technology is Secure Shell (SSH) which is largely used for encrypted terminal connections (replacing telnet) and encrypted file transfers (SFTP replacing FTP). Like SSL/TLS, SSH can also be used for tunneling.

A more general form of network traffic encryption is IP Security (IPSec), which operates at a more basic layer than SSL or SSH and can be applied to any network traffic. However, using IPSec requires common configuration between the two computers communicating, so it is generally used within a company/department rather than across the internet.

For wireless networks there are other encryption options that only encrypt information between the computer and the wireless access point. For this reason, they only protect from snooping on wireless and not after the information leaves the access point onto a wired network. The two most common forms are called Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and WiFI Protected Access (WPA). WEP is no longer considered a secure protocol. WPA is much stronger, but has shortcomings and an updated WPA2 standard has been released which improves its security.

More here:
Types of Encryption | Office of Information Technology

Former MI5 boss Lord Evans: Encryption backdoors ‘not the …

REUTERS/Manchester Evening news/Pool The former head of Britain's MI5 intelligence Agency, Jonathan Evans.

Inserting backdoors into encryption software is "not the answer" to battling crime, the former head of MI5 told Business Insider.

Over the last few months, debate has raged between security experts and law enforcement over the correct way to approach encryption the act of scrambling data or communications in such a way that it cannot be understood without the correct key or password.

Since the Snowden revelations about US mass surveillance, companies like Apple and Google have increasingly introduced strong encryption into their products that even they cannot decrypt under any circumstances. This is much to the chagrin of many in law enforcement, who fear that data is "going dark," and that they are losing access to vital evidence. But security experts counter that any "backdoors" in software to let law enforcement bypass these security protections would be open to abuse and make users less safe. "You can't build a backdoor that only the good guys can walk through," cryptography expert Bruce Schneier says.

James Comey, head of the FBI, has been a vocal critic of encryption, calling for tech companies to give law enforcement "front door" access to encrypted data to help tackle terrorist threats like ISIS. Europol chief Rob Wainwright has called encryption the "perhaps the biggest problem" in tackling terrorism.

David Cameron has previously been critical of encrypted communications, asking in a speech in January whether "we want to allow a means of communication between two people which even in extemis with a signed warrant from the home secretary personally that we cannot read? ... My answer to that question is no, we must not." But after deliberating, the Obama administration has opted not to try to impose limits on encryption, instead opting to "continue the conversations with industry," Comey told a Congressional committee earlier this month

Business Insider spoke to Lord Evans, the Director-General of British spy agency MI5 between 2005 and 2013, after he gave a speech at the Good Exchange cybersecurity summit in London on Tuesday. He said that encryption technology makes things significantly harder for authorities, and that British spying laws need updating but that inserting backdoors to allow covert access for law enforcement is "not the answer" because of the risk they could be exploited by others.

Lord Evans has previously called for surveillance laws to be "brought up to date." In a column written for The Telegraph in January 2015, he said that intelligence agencies' legal powers "were not designed for the current digital world. Increasing areas of digital communications are beyond the reach of law enforcement and they are being exploited by those who wish us ill and prey on the vulnerable."

He told Business Insider there is not currently a "satisfactory" answer on how to deal with this.

Former NSA boss Michael Hayden does not support backdoors in encryption, Motherboard reported earlier this month. Discussing failed efforts to curtail encryption in the Nineties, Hayden said: "in retrospect, we mastered the problem we created ... We were able to do a whole bunch of other things. Some of the other things were metadata, and bulk collection and so on."

Here is the original post:
Former MI5 boss Lord Evans: Encryption backdoors 'not the ...

Whitewood Encryption Systems

It can't be played in your browser. Download

RANDOM NUMBERS ARE THE BASIS OF TRUST ON THE INTERNET

When crypto becomes predictable, the attackers job is easy.

Harness the power of Quantum Random Number Generation

Let Whitewood TAKE THE UNCERTAINTY OUT OF RANDOM NUMBERS.

Quality

Predictability is the enemy of cryptography.

Attackers dont crack encryption they steal or guess keys. Poor sources of entropy mean keys are less than perfectly random, turning strong encryption into something less. Building confidence starts at the source entropy is the foundation of trust.

Quantity

Entropy is a scarce resource that is taken for granted.

But, as reserves run low, predictability creeps in. High-capacity datacenters are entropy deserts, and demand can outstrip supply as applications compete for random data. Ensuring an adequate supply of entropy should never be left to chance.

Consistency

Entropy is born in the physical world. All devices are different.

User interaction, hardware features and software tools are an ever-changing mix. Securing mobile, consumer and IoT environments cries out for consistency as points of weakness create points of attack. Normalizing access to entropy across distributed systems is key to managing risk.

The Whitewood Entropy Engine solves the problem of entropy generation. It provides random data in a convenient PCIe card form factor. At its core is a patent-pending quantum entropy source that exploits the immutable laws of quantum mechanics to create true unpredictability. Capable of delivering 200Mbps, the Entropy Engine can satisfy the demands of even the highest-performance cryptosystems.

The Whitewood Entropy Server is deployed to deliver truly random data on demand to applications and devices. Incorporating the quantum-powered Entropy Engine, the Entropy Server ensures a consistent supply of entropy to distributed systems where the quality of local random number generators is unknown or in question, such as in virtualized environments, mobile devices, web browsers and IoT deployments.

The Heartbleed vulnerability highlighted the prolific use of OpenSSL and its role in securing data goes well beyond setting up internet connections. OpenSSL is thirsty for entropy, particularly when enabled for Perfect Forward Secrecy. The Whitewood Entropy Client for OpenSSL is an open source tool that enables entropy consumption to be managed and dramatically improved.

Enterprise Infrastructure

Critical systems require critical infrastructure and entropy management is a vital component. Web servers, PKI, data-at-rest encryption, tokenization and core business applications rely on sound cryptography. As enterprises adopt virtualization technologies, deploy private clouds, and push trusted operations to the edge of their networks, it becomes time to take control of entropy.

Hosting and Cloud Providers

In the race to add value, retain customers and grow revenue, entropy management can become a powerful asset. Delivering Entropy-as-a-Service to tenants as a premium service complements other security-related capabilities. Attracting security-critical applications away from the traditional corporate datacenter is a compelling opportunity for all service providers, and entropy services can play a central role in convincing customers that its safe to make the move.

Security Solution Providers

Trust is a core differentiator for security providers. Products ranging from data protection to digital rights management, mobile authentication to PKI, and bitcoin to gaming, all rely on cryptography to do their job safely. Relying on poor sources of entropy on phones, in browsers or in the cloud, compromise a products integrity and risks a vendors reputation. Harnessing the power of quantum-based entropy can help solution providers stand out in the market.

Let Whitewood Help You Take Control

Read more from the original source:
Whitewood Encryption Systems

Stand Up For Strong Security

Sign this petition What this is:

Certain members of Congress and the FBI want to force companies to give the government special access to our datasuch as by building security vulnerabilities or giving the government a golden key to unlock our encrypted communications. But security experts agree that it is not possible to give the government what it wants without creating vulnerabilities that could be exploited by bad actors.

These proposals jeopardize not just our private data, but the security of every technology that relies on this encryption.

One voice could tilt the balance in this debate. We need the President to speak out for uncompromised security.

Sign the below petition to submit your signature electronically to the White Houses We the People site. Help us make this the most popular petition in the site's history.

We petition the Obama Administration to:

Publicly affirm your support for strong encryption.

Reject any law, policy, or mandate that would undermine our security.

The government should not erode the security of our devices or applications, pressure companies to keep and allow government access to our data, mandate implementation of vulnerabilities or backdoors into products, or have disproportionate access to the keys to private data.

We demand privacy, security, and integrity for our communications and systems. As a public, we should be confident that the services we use havent been weakened or compromised by government mandate or pressure. No legislation, executive order, or private agreement with the government should undermine our rights.

Weakening encryption weakens the entire Internet. Mr. President, please endorse strong encryption, and encourage other world leaders to do the same.

100,000 for the White House to respond.

370,000 to make this the most popular WhiteHouse.gov petition ever.

The information you have provided above will be electronically transmitted to the White House via their API (privacy policy).

This app uses the We the People API, but is neither endorsed nor certified by the White House.

Read the original here:
Stand Up For Strong Security

Encryption software – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Encryption software is software that can encrypt and decrypt data, often in the form of files on a hard drive or packets sent over a network.

Encryption software uses an encryption scheme that encodes computer data so that it cannot be recovered without the correct key. Software encryption is a fundamental part of modern computer communications and file protection.

The purpose of encryption is to prevent third parties from recovering any of the original data, or even any information about the data, from the encrypted data. This is particularly important for sensitive data like social security numbers.

Many encryption algorithms and schemes exist for many different purposes. Public-key algorithms like RSA and ElGamal are used by HTTPS for encrypting web communications and by PGP for encrypting emails. Symmetric-key algorithms like AES operated in CBC mode are popular for encrypting individual files. Full disk encryption has different constraints, and so the now-defunct TrueCrypt used AES in XTS mode.

Ciphers can be categorized into two general types: public key ciphers and symmetric key ciphers.

Public key systems use algorithms that rely on a pair of mathematically-linked keys. Data encrypted with one key can only be decrypted using the other key. These systems are used for exchanging secrets (often a key for subsequent use in a symmetric key cipher) and digital signatures.

Symmetric key ciphers (also referred to as secret key ciphers) use the same key for both encryption and decryption. Thus, in order for messages encrypted with a symmetric key cipher to remain secure, the key used must remain secret. Symmetric key ciphers can be further subdivided into stream ciphers and block ciphers.

Stream ciphers typically encrypt plaintext a bit or byte at a time, and are most commonly used to encrypt real-time communications, such as audio and video information. The key is used to establish the initial state of a keystream generator, and the output of that generator is used to encrypt the plaintext.

Block cipher algorithms split the plaintext into fixed-size blocks and encrypt one block at a time. For example, AES processes 16-byte blocks, while its predecessor DES encrypted blocks of eight bytes.

There are many factors that affect the choice of an encryption algorithm. Common factors include the security, speed, parallelizability of encryption and decryption, memory requirements, known weaknesses, and similarity to existing designs.

A common mistake made by amateur cryptographers is to assume that because the method is secret, the cipher is secure. This is usually not true. Many "home grown" encryption algorithms reveal the key quite easily when fed a string of identical bytes (e.g., nulls).

The purpose of disseminating an encryption method is to allow the community to evaluate it. If it is indeed secure, then its power lies in the fact that its method has been subjected to scrutiny and found to be sound, not that it is secret.

Encryption software can be used in many ways. Common categories include:

Network traffic encryption tools

Each of these categories define the range and location of the data to be encrypted, but the process is the same for each.

View post:
Encryption software - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Information Security resources and information …

Enterprise Data Protection

In an era when data theft and security breaches are daily occurrences, secure data storage is a key component of a security infrastructure. This introduction to enterprise data protection offers advice on how to lock down stored data, data backup and recovery, disk and file encryption and database security. More about Enterprise Data Protection

Get advice on application and platform security. Here you'll find information on vulnerability and threat management, operating system security and storage security, application firewalls, email protection, IM security, Web security and more. More about Application and Platform Security

Identity management and access control are integral in maintaining data security. Here you'll find information on passwords, authentication and Web access control. Browse the identity management and access control topics below for the latest news, expert advice, learning tools and more. More about Enterprise Identity and Access Management

Government IT security management news and analysis covering information security in the federal government and its agencies as well as state and local governments, national initiatives to secure cyberspace, public-private cooperation and the government's role in helping enterprises protect the data of U.S. citizens. More about Government IT security

Mitigating information security threats is an ongoing battle. Here you'll find information on ID theft, data security breaches, viruses, email threats, Web threats, hacking tools and more. Browse the information security threats topics below for news, expert advice and learning tools. More about Information Security Threats

The information security careers, training and certification resource center provides the latest news, expert advice and learning tools to help you make informed career choices, learn about CISSP, SANS and CISA certification, and the training required for information security jobs. More about Information Security Careers, Training and Certifications

Get tips from the experts on security audits, compliance and standards. Advice is offered on data privacy and theft, audit planning and management, how to work with auditors, and compliance with standards, regulations and guidelines such as PCI DSS, GLBA, HIPPA, SOX, FISMA, ISO 17799 and COBIT. More about Security Audit, Compliance and Standards

Browse the articles and tips in this section for the latest information on how to deal effectively with resellers of the latest security tools. More about Security for the Channel

Network security is a critical aspect of enterprise security. Here you'll find network security solution for several areas, such as, network architecture, software and policies, VPNs, device management, network prevention and intrusion detection and wireless security. Browse the network security topics below to find the latest news, expert advice, learning tools and more. More about Enterprise Network Security

Conquer the challenges of enterprise information security management with helpful information on regulatory compliance, risk management, information security standards, security frameworks, disaster recovery and more. Browse the security management topics below for news, expert advice and online learning seminars. More about Information Security Management

Read more:
Information Security resources and information ...

encryption – WIRED

Slide: 1 / of 2 .

Caption: Original illustration: Getty

Slide: 2 / of 2 .

Caption: A screenshot from an early demo of miniLock.

Encryption is hard. When NSA leaker Edward Snowden wanted to communicate with journalist Glenn Greenwald via encrypted email, Greenwald couldnt figure out the venerable crypto program PGP even after Snowden made a 12-minute tutorial video.

Nadim Kobeissi wants to bulldoze that steep learning curve. At theHOPE hacker conference in New York later this month hell release a beta version of an all-purpose file encryption program called miniLock, a free and open-source browser plugin designed to let even Luddites encrypt and decrypt files with practically uncrackable cryptographic protection in seconds.

The tagline is that this is file encryption that does more with less, says Kobeissi, a 23-year old coder, activist and security consultant. Its super simple, approachable, and its almost impossible to be confused using it.

Kobeissis creation, which he says is in an experimental phase and shouldnt yet be used for high security files, may in fact be the easiest encryption software of its kind. In an early version of the Google Chrome plugin tested by WIRED, we were able to drag and drop a file into the program in seconds, scrambling the data such that no one but the intended recipientin theory not even law enforcement or intelligence agenciescould unscramble and read it. MiniLock can be used to encrypt anything from video email attachments to photos stored on a USB drive, or to encrypt files for secure storage on Dropbox or Google Drive.

Like the older PGP, miniLock offers so-called public key encryption. In public key encryption systems, users have two cryptographic keys, a public key and a private one. They share the public key with anyone who wants to securely send them files; anything encrypted with that public key can only be decrypted with their private key, which the user guards closely.

Kobeissis version of public key encryption hides nearly all of that complexity. Theres no need to even register or log inevery time miniLock launches, the user enters only a passphrase, though miniLock requires a strong one with as many as 30 characters or a lot of symbols and numbers. From that passphrase, the program derives a public key, which it calls a miniLock ID, and a private key, which the user never sees and is erased when the program closes. Both are the same every time the user enters the passphrase. That trick of generating the same keys again in every session means anyone can use the program on any computer without worrying about safely storing or moving a sensitive private key.

No logins, and no private keys to manage. Both are eliminated. Thats whats special, says Kobeissi. Users can have their identity for sending and receiving files on any computer that has miniLock installed, without needing to have an account like a web service does, and without needing to manage key files like PGP.

In fact, miniLock uses a flavor of encryption that had barely been developed when PGP became popular in the 1990s: elliptic curve cryptography. Kobeissi says that crypto toolset allows for tricks that havent been possible before; PGPs public keys, which users have to share with anyone who wants to send them encrypted files, often fill close to a page with random text. MiniLock IDs are only 44 characters, small enough that they can fit in a tweet with room to spare. And elliptic curve crypto makes possible miniLocks feature of deriving the users keys from his or her passphrase every time its entered rather than storing them. Kobeissi says hes saving the full technical explanation of miniLocks elliptic curve feats for his HOPE conference talk.

Despite all those clever features, miniLock may not get a warm welcome from the crypto community. Kobeissis best-known previous creation is Cryptocat, a secure chat program that, like miniLock, made encryption so easy that a five-year-old could use it. But it also suffered from several serious security flaws that led many in the security community to dismiss it as useless or worse, a trap offering vulnerable users an illusion of privacy.

But the flaws that made Cryptocat into the security communitys whipping boy have been fixed, Kobeissi points out. Today the program been downloaded close to 750,000 times, and in a security ranking of chat programs by the German security firm PSW Group last month it tied for first place.

Despite Cryptocats early flaws, miniLock shouldnt be dismissed, says Matthew Green, a cryptography professor at Johns Hopkins University who highlighted previous bugs in Cryptocat and has now also reviewed Kobeissis design spec for miniLock. Nadim gets a lot of crap, Green says. But slighting him over things he did years ago is getting to be pretty unfair.

Green is cautiously optimistic about miniLocks security. I wouldnt go out and encrypt NSA documents with it right now, he says. But it has a nice and simple cryptographic design, with not a lot of places for it to go wrongThis is one that I actually think will take some review, but could be pretty secure.

Kobeissi says hes also learned lessons from Cryptocats failures: miniLock wont initially be released in the Chrome Web Store. Instead, hes making its code available on GitHub for review, and has taken special pains to document how it works in detail for any auditors. This isnt my first rodeo, he says. [MiniLocks] openness is designed to show sound programming practice, studied cryptographic design decisions, and to make it easy to evaluate miniLock for potential bugs.

If miniLock becomes the first truly idiot-proof public key encryption program, it could bring sophisticated encryption to a broad new audience. PGP sucks, Johns Hopkins Green says. The ability for regular people to encrypt files is actually a valuable thing[Kobeissi] has stripped away the complexity and made this thing that does what we need it to do.

Continued here:
encryption - WIRED

Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) – Oracle

Yes, TDE is designed to provide customers the ability to transparently apply encryption within the database without impacting existing applications. Returning data in encrypted format would break most existing applications. TDE provides the benefit of encryption without the overhead associated with traditional database encryption solutions that typically require expensive and lengthy changes to applications, incl. database triggers and views. Oracle Database Vault can be used to protect application data from the DBA and other powerful users as well as implementing robust controls on access to the database and application.

These numbers are important for storage planning, but DBAs or developers don't have to manually expand the columns for TDE column encryption; the expansion is done transparently by TDE when a column is marked 'encrypted'.

Users can reduce the amount of additional storage by choosing the 'no salt' option (16 byte saved), and/or the 'nomac' option (available from 10.2.0.4, 11.1.0.7 and Oracle Database 11g Release 2), which eliminates the additional CPU cycles and disk space needed for calculating and storing the 20 byte hash value for each encrypted field.

TDE supports AES256, AES192 (default for TDE column encryption), AES128 (default for TDE tablespace encryption), and 3DES168.

No, it is not possible to plug-in other encryption algorithms. Oracle provides encryption algorithms that are broadly accepted, and will add new standard algorithms as they become available.

TDE doesn't support encrypting columns with foreign key constraints. This is due to the fact that individual tables have their own unique encryption key. The following query lists all occurrences of RI (Referential Integrity) constraints in your database:

Yes. Joining tables is transparent to users and applications, even if the columns for the join condition are encrypted.

TDE tablespace encryption supports all indexes transparently.

For TDE column encryption, the index needs to be a normal B-tree index, used for equality searches. In case of a composite, function-based index, the encrypted column cannot be the one that was used for the function. When encrypting a column with an existing index, it is recommended to first extract the index definition with dbms_metadata.get_ddl, then drop the index, encrypt the column with the 'no salt' option, and re-build the index.

For TDE tablespace encryption, there are no limitations in terms of supported data types; the following data types can be encrypted using TDE column encryption:

Data encrypted with TDE is decrypted when it is read back from database file. Thus if this data goes on the network, it is clear-text data. However, the data can be encrypted using Oracle's network encryption solution (Example), which is included along with TDE in the Oracle Advanced Security option. Oracle's network encryption solution encrypts all data traveling to and from a database over SQL*Net.

With TDE column encryption, encrypted data remains encrypted inside the SGA, but with TDE tablespace encryption, data is already decrypted in the SGA, which provides 100% transparency.

If you have to comply to the PCI-DSS standard, then credit card numbers (a.k.a. Primary Account Number, or PAN) need to be stored encrypted.

The need to comply to the almost ubiquitous Breach Notification Laws (for example CA SB 1386, CA AB 1950, and similar laws in 43+ more US states), adds first name, last name, driver license number and other PII to your list. In early 2008, CA AB 1298 added medical and health insurance information to PII data.

Additionally, your industry specific privacy and security standards may require encryption of certain assets, plus your own core business assets (such as research results in the pharmaceutical industry, results of oil field exploration, financial contracts, or the personal details of informants in law enforcement) may be worth encrypting to safeguard this information on the storage medium. In the health care industry, the privacy of patient data, health records and X-ray images is of the highest importance. Most X-ray images are stored following the DICOM standard, which intentionally includes PII information into the image meta data, making image and patient data readily available to an intruder if not properly protected through encryption. With Oracle Database 11g, DICOM images can be stored in 'SecureFile' columns where they can be encrypted either with TDE column encryption, or tables with 'SecureFile' columns (or classic LOB columns) can be stored in an encrypted tablespace.

This is the most difficult task ahead of a security team or team of DBAs when using TDE column encryption:

If you run applications that were developed in-house, chances are you can locate tables with sensitive information by talking to your developers.

It is more difficult when you run packaged software applications. Since privacy and security requirements are different for each of the deployments of these applications, vendors themselves cannot readily determine what to encrypt. If PCI compliance is the goal, and the column names of the application tables are named similar to 'CREDIT_CARD' or 'ACCOUNT_NUMBER', they are easy to find using Oracle's rich metadata repository.

More complex is the search for sensitive data when column names are not descriptive about their content; the only method of finding sensitive content is the search for patterns: Social Security Numbers always look like 'aaa-bb-cccc', but Credit Card Numbers are less consistent: They have 13 or 16 digits, and are not always grouped by 4 digits.

If you need to encrypt columns that have characteristics which are not supported by TDE column encryption (in terms of indexes, data types, or foreign keys), or if it is not possible to locate columns that store sensitive data in application tables, TDE tablespace encryption is your best choice.

Use TDE tablespace encryption if any of the following is true:

Oracle introduced an encryption package ('dbms_obfuscation_toolkit') with Oracle8i. In Oracle 10g Release 1, the new 'dbms_crypto' package was introduced. These APIs can be used to manually encrypt data within the database. However, the application must manage the encryption keys and perform required encryption and decryption operations by calling the API.

As opposed to dbms_obfuscation_toolkit and dbms_crypto, both TDE column encryption (from 10gR2) and TDE tablespace encryption (from 11gR1) don't require changes to the application, are transparent to the end users, and provide automated, built-in key management.

TDE is part of the Oracle Advanced Security Option, which also includes Network Encryption and Strong Authentication. It is available for the Oracle Enterprise Edition.

A wallet is an encrypted container that is used to store authentication and signing credentials, including passwords, the TDE master key, PKI private keys, certificates, and trusted certificates needed by SSL. With TDE, wallets are used on the server to protect the TDE master key. With the exception of Diffie-Hellman, Oracle requires entities that communicate over SSL to have a wallet containing an X.509 version 3 certificate, private key, and list of trusted certificates.

Oracle provides two different types of wallets: encryption wallet and (local) auto-open wallet. The encryption wallet (filename 'ewallet.p12') is the one recommended for TDE. It needs to be opened manually after database startup and prior to TDE encrypted data being accessed. Because data is encrypted in REDO logs, UNDO and TEMP tablespaces, the TDE master encryption key needs to be available to the database before it is opened:

On Unix, access to the wallet should be limited to the 'oracle:oinstall' user:group, using proper directory (700) and file permissions (600). Even though the 'root' user has access to the wallet file, if she does not know the wallet password, she has no access to the master encryption key. For all platforms, the password (that encrypts the wallet) should contain a minimum of 8 alphanumeric characters. Wallet passwords can be changed using Oracle Wallet Manager, or the 'orapki' utility. It is highly recommended to make a backup of the Oracle Wallet before changing the wallet password. Changing the wallet password does not change the TDE master key (they are independent). Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2) on Linux, it is recommended to store the Oracle Wallet in ACFS, a cluster file system on top of ASM (applies to single instance, RAC one node, multi-node RAC, but not Exadata X2), as it's new Security features provide excellent wallet protection and separation of duties. A detailed step-by-step guide on how to create an access control policy in ACFS incl. separation of duties is available in the frequently updated TDE best practices document.

If you create a wallet with Oracle Wallet Manager, it does not contain the master key required by TDE. Only the SQL command:

creates a wallet (if it doesn't already exist in the location specified in the local sqlnet.ora file) and adds the TDE master key to it.

In Oracle 11gR1, TDE and other security features have been migrated to Enterprise Manager Database Control, thus enabling the wallet and the master key to be generated using the Web-based GUI of Enterprise Manager.

New in Oracle 11g Release 2 is the unified master encryption key, which is used for both TDE column and TDE tablespace encryption; this key can be created, stored and re-keyed (rotated) in the Oracle Wallet.

Yes, the wallet password can be changed with Oracle Wallet Manager (OWM). Create a backup before attempting to change the wallet password. Changing the wallet password does not change the encryption master key they are independent. In Oracle 11gR1 11.1.0.7, orapki has been enhanced to allow wallet password changes from the command line:

A password-protected, encrypted wallet for the TDE master key might not be the right solution when database availability needs to be maintained without human intervention ('lights-out' operation); a (local) auto-open wallet does not require a wallet password after a database came up, so encrypted data is available to authorized users and applications.

A (local) auto-open wallet ('cwallet.sso') needs to be created from an existing encryption wallet ('ewallet.p12'), so that the master key can be transferred to the new auto-open wallet.

You can either open the encryption wallet in Oracle Wallet Manager (OWM), check the 'Auto Login' check box, then select 'Save' to write the auto-open wallet to disk, or, using the command-line tool 'orapki':

The syntax to create a local auto-open wallet is:

In both cases (Oracle Wallet Manager and 'orapki') the user will be prompted for the wallet password. Keep the encryption wallet; it is required for master key re-key operations, and potentially contains a list of retired master keys.

RMAN only adds database files, redo-logs etc. to the backup file, and thus there is no risk of the encryption wallet or the auto-open wallet becoming part of a database backup. Oracle Secure Backup (OSB) uses datasets to define which operating system files to add to a backup. OSB automatically excludes auto-open wallets ('cwallet.sso'). Encryption wallets ('ewallet.p12') are NOT automatically excluded; you need to use the exclude dataset statement to specify what files to skip during a backup:

Backup the Oracle wallet right after creating it, and each time it's content changes, for example due to a master key re-key operation, and each time you change the wallet password. Always store the wallet (encrypted or (local) auto-open) away from your database backups.

Oracle invests in compatibility testing for a range of software solutions including applications that are part of the integrated Oracle hardware-software stack and other third-party applications. The table below summarizes these application certifications. For further details, refer to the linked pages and files.

Transparent Data Encryption is a great way to protect sensitive data in large-scale Exadata scenarios. With Exadata, substantial crypto performance gains are possible. Unique factors in Exadata that maximize the crypto performance include:

For example, the hardware-based crypto acceleration in Exadata alone can improve performance by up to 10x (relative to without hardware acceleration).

Below is a table that summarizes the performance characteristics of Exadata X2 systems across compute and storage. The table highlights where hardware-based crypto accleration may be enabled.

Note: In Oracle Exadata V2 and X2, the table keys (for TDE column encryption) or tablespace keys (for TDE tablespace encryption) are sent to the storage cells, so that content can be first decrypted and then, Smart Scan is applied. Content is encrypted on the compute nodes. Decryption usually takes place in the compute nodes, but when queries are pushed to the storage nodes, decryption takes place there to enable Smart Scan

Oracle Secure Backup provides an optimized, highly efficient tape backup solution for the Oracle Database. OSB can store data on tape in encrypted form, providing protection against theft of backup tapes.

Example for 'transparent' encryption [and compression] when the local TDE master encryption key is available:

A license of the Advanced Security Option is neccessary to encrypt RMAN backups to disk, regardless if the TDE master encryption key or a passphrase is used to encrypt the file.

No, however, Oracle RMAN can be used in conjunction with Oracle Advanced Security to encrypt database backups sent to disk. This requires a license of the Oracle Advanced Security Option.

Yes, but it requires that the wallet containing the master key is copied to the secondary database. If the tablespace is moved and the master key is not available, the secondary database will return an error when the data in the tablespace is accessed.

Customers using TDE tablespace encryption get the full benefit of compression (standard and Advanced Compression, as well as Exadata Hybrid Columnar Compression (EHCC)) because compression is applied before the data blocks are encrypted. Customers using TDE column encryption will get the full benefit of compression only on table columns that are not encrypted. Individual table columns that are encrypted using TDE column encryption will have a much lower level of compression because the encryption takes place in the SQL layer before the advanced compression process.

When TDE is used with Data Guard physical standby (10gR2 and later), encrypted data remains encrypted in the log files during shipping to the secondary database(s), so ASO Network Encryption is optional to encrypt data in transit that has not be encrypted on disk; Metalink note 749947.1 explains how to setup ASO native network encryption, while Metalink note 1143443.1 explains how to setup SSL based encryption. The master key needs to be present and open on any Physical Standby database site, whether just applying redo, open read only, open in Active Data Guard (read only and applying redo) and for role transition (switchover or failover).

When TDE is used with Data Guard logical standby (11gR1), the master key needs to be present and open at the secondary site for SQL Apply to decrypt the data that it reads from the log files. The same master encryption key can also be used to optionally encrypt the incoming data while it is written to the Logical Standby database. Encrypted data remains encrypted in log files and during transit when the log files are shipped to the secondary database; Oracle Network Encryption is optional. Metalink note 749947.1 explains how to setup ASO native network encryption, while Metalink note 1143443.1 explains how to setup SSL based encryption.

When TDE is used with Streams in 11gR1, data is transmitted between active databases in clear text to allow data transformation (character sets, database versions, platforms, etc.). When the receiving side cannot be reached and data needs to be stored temporarily, encrypted columns are stored encrypted on disk. Streams in database versions prior to 11gR1 treat encrypted columns as 'unsupported data types' and skip these tables.

The traffic can be encrypted either with blowfish or SSH port forwarding

TDE tablespace encryption encrypts all content stored in that tablespace and does not conflict with any other database feature. TDE column encryption encrypts and decrypts data transparently when data passes through the SQL layer. Some features of Oracle bypass the SQL layer, and hence cannot benefit from TDE column encryption:

Yes, you can. When the target table contains encrypted columns, the data will be encrypted upon loading the data. Here is a simple example on how to use SQL*Loader with direct path. Simply modify one column in ulcase6.sql from

to

and use the correct syntax for SQL*Loader:

This is no different from finding the data still on the disk even after a table is dropped, or a file is deleted. During the lifetime of a table, data may become fragmented, re-arranged, sorted, copied and moved within the tablespace; this leaves 'ghost copies' of your data within the database file. When encrypting an existing column, only the most recent 'valid' copy is encrypted, leaving behind older clear-text versions in ghost copies. If the data file holding the tablespace is directly accessed bypassing the access controls of the database (for example with an hex editor), old clear text values might be visible for some time, until those blocks are overwritten by the database. To minimize this risk, please follow these recommendations:

The 6th step is recommended to lower the probability of being able to find ghost copies of the database file, generated by either the operating system, or storage firmware.

(*): Content can be moved from one encrypted tablespace to a new encrypted tablespace, where it is encrypted with a new tablespace key.

TDE uses a two tier key mechanism. When TDE column encryption is applied to an existing application table column, a new table key is created and stored in the Oracle data dictionary. When TDE tablespace encryption is used, the individual tablespace keys are stored in the header of the underlying OS file(s). The table and tablespace keys are encrypted using the TDE master encryption key. The master encryption key is generated when TDE is initialized and stored outside the database in the Oracle Wallet. Both the master key and table keys can be independently changed (rotated, re-keyed) based on company security policies. Tablespace keys cannot be re-keyed (rotated); work around is to move the data into a new encrypted tablespace. Oracle recommends backing up the wallet before and after each master key change.

Changing the wallet password does not re-key the TDE master encryption key.

Encrypting columns in an existing table is an 'update' operation and allows Read access, but no DML operations, on that table. With billions of rows, this window of limited availability can last several hours. But with Online Table Redefinition, a mature High-Availability feature of the Oracle Database, the table is locked in exclusive mode only during a very small window that is independent of the size of the table and complexity of the redefinition, and that is completely transparent to users and applications, without any data loss.

Starting in Oracle Database 11g Release 2, customers of Oracle Advanced Security Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) optionally may store the TDE master encryption key in an external device using the PKCS11 interface. In this setup, the master key is stored directly in the third-party device rather than in the included Oracle Wallet (note: the Oracle Wallet is a PKCS12 file-based keystore which is used by most TDE customers).

When using PKCS11, the third-party vendor provides the storage device, PKCS11 software client library, secure communication from the device to the PKCS11 client (running on the database server), authentication, auditing, and other related functionality. The vendor also is responsible for testing and ensuring high-availability of the TDE master encryption key in diverse database server environments and configurations. Customers should contact the device vendor to receive assistance for any related issues.

Read more from the original source:
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) - Oracle

Data Encryption Solutions for Enterprises – SafeNet

In order to guard against advanced threats in a complex and evolving climate of virtualization, cloud services, and mobility, while maintaining regulatory compliance, organizations must increasingly take a data-centric approach to safeguarding their sensitive information. SafeNet offers the only complete enterprise encryption portfolio that provides persistent protection of sensitive data at all critical points in its lifecycle.

From the physical and virtual data center to the cloud, SafeNet helps organizations remain protected, compliant, and in control. SafeNetencryption and cryptographic key management productsenable organizations to secure sensitive data in databases, applications, storage systems, virtualized platforms, and cloud environments.

SafeNet delivers the breadth of solutions that enable security teams to centrally employ defense-in-depth strategiesand ultimately make sure encryption yields true security. If access controls are lacking, the efficacy of encryption can be compromised. If cryptographic keys are vulnerable, so is encrypted data.

To truly protect sensitive data, organizations must follow encryption best practices as well as establish a strong Crypto Foundation an approach that incorporates crypto processing and acceleration, key storage, key management, and crypto resource management.

Along with a comprehensive set of encryption platforms, SafeNet delivers the robust access controls and key management capabilities that enable organizations to practically, cost effectively, and comprehensively leverage encryption to address their security objectives.

With SafeNet, organizations can apply data protection where they need it, when they need it, and how they need it.

Explore Our Encryption Products

SafeNet enterprise encryption solutions enable you to protect and control sensitive data as it expands in volume, type and location, from the data center to virtual environments and the cloud while improving compliance and governance visibility and efficiencies through centralized management and policy enforcement.

SafeNet hardware security modules (HSMs) provide reliable protection for transactions, identities, and applications by securing cryptographic keys and provisioning encryption, decryption, authentication, and digital signing services.

With SafeNet, organizations can centrally, efficiently, and securely manage cryptographic keys and policiesacross the key management lifecycle and throughout the enterprisein the cloud or on-premises.

Customers rely on SafeNet's data center protection solutions to secure sensitive structured and unstructured data, including patient records, credit card information, social security numbers, and more.

With SafeNet organizations can efficiently and securely implement encryption in virtual environments. SafeNet solutions can encrypt and secure the entire contents of virtual machines, store and manage the encryption keys from the cloud, or offer encryption for cloud applications, such as Dropboxprotecting sensitive assets from theft or exposure.

SafeNet enables organizations to encrypt sensitive assets in business applications as well as in some instances encrypt the application itself. With SafeNet solutions, customers can harness strong encryption, granular controls, and transparent implementation capabilities to efficiently and effectively secure sensitive assets.

Proven reliability, highest throughput, and lowest latency make SafeNet's network security devices the ideal solution for protecting data in motion, including time-sensitive voice, video streams, and metadata.

Already familiar with our award-winning products? Quickly find your specific product(s) of interest by checking out our complete list of products with links to our product detail pages.

SafeNet enterprise encryption solutions deliver unmatched coveragesecuring databases, applications, personal identifiable information (PII), and storage in the physical and virtual data center and the cloud. Moreover, SafeNet also provides the critical key management needed to effectively and efficiently enable protection across the enterprise wherever data resides.

Offering solutions that are industry-specific, SafeNet is able to serve the particular requirements of our customers, protecting the worlds leading organizations in finance, retail, healthcare, and more.

SafeNet offers a broad range of data encryption solutions that enable enterprises to move past silo-constrained encryption and to centrally, uniformly deployed encryption in a scalable manner that spans the enterprise, and effectively control their security policies. To learn more, please refer to our resources below.

The volume of information is mushrooming and being transformed from paper to digital form at an alarming rate with no end in sight. Properly addressing security threats to all of this data requires proper cryptographic key storage and management.

Long an important security measure, encryption has emerged as a critical component to ensuring compliance in virtualized data centers and cloud environments. However, in order for encryption to be effectively, efficiently, and securely implemented in these emerging environments, there are several fundamental requirements that must be met. This paper provides an overview of these requirements.

View post:
Data Encryption Solutions for Enterprises - SafeNet