Answer:
Encryption is an important part of the usage of computers and the Internet to assure only people that should see your message see it.
Encryption is not something new with computers. It goes way back in history. With encryption you are altering the contents of a message so if someone that does not know the key will not know what is in the message. The following sentence is encrypted using a simple method. Vjku ku cp gpetavgf oguucig. It looks like I jut ran fingers across keyboard and makes no sense. However, if I give you the key then you can read it.
The key I used is that I changed all letters to letters higher, so a became c, b became d, etc. Now you can look and it and decrypt it and know what I wrote. The message is This is an encrypted message.
With computers today they use a complex algorithm to do the encrypting, so it is not this simple to decrypt. Basically, the key I gave you was one character of add two letters. The keys used by most encryption methods today are 256 or 512 characters long. You will see statements tat using this length key or using another length key will require a certain amount of time for t a computer to guess its way thru. However, be aware those numbers reduce all the time so a key may take 6 months to guess on machines today, but we are making faster and faster machines, and the new machines next month will do it quicker, so they are figuring newer algorithms and using longer keys to keep secrets.
Remember in WWII the Code Talkers (Navaho Indians) broke the key that the Germans were using so the Allies could read German messages.
When you use HTTPS as the protocol for web pages it is encrypting information that is sent form the page. That way a hacker getting the message between the sender and receiver cannot read it. For this reason, when you send PII (personal identifiable information) or credit card numbers, etc. across the Internet you want it sent encrypted. The way to know that is if the URL (address) of the site in the address bar in your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, etc.) shows either it starts with https:// or shows a locked lock.
Send me your questions about computers to dwight@dwightwatt.com and tell me you read this in this paper. I will pick a question to answer each week.
Watt does computer work for businesses, individuals and organizations and teaches about computers at a technical college in northwest Georgia. His webpage is www.dwightwatt.com.
