How to choose the best encryption method for a database

Introduction

Encryption is the process of encoding messages or information so that only authorized parties can see it. Encryption has been in use for several centuries. For example, during World War II, the Allies used unwritten Navajo language to send encrypted codes, which the Japanese could not decode.

Today, encryption is more important than ever, as we live in an era where privacy and security are constantly under attack by hackers who want to access our personal lives. Thanks to modern technologies like AES encryption, hackers have no reason to read sensitive information.

Encryption is a general process to maintain data security. In this article, we will explore different encryption methods so that you can securely store information in databases.

Which encryption algorithm should you choose?

It is important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each method before choosing one. The three encryption algorithms currently in use are:

Symmetric key encryption

Asymmetric key encryption

Hybrid encryption

Symmetric key encryption

Symmetric key encryption is very suitable for situations that require fast data encryption or may not have a secure channel to send the key over time (such as communicating with someone on the other side of the world).

Advantages include faster decryption time than asymmetric key encryption, smaller key size, easier to securely store or transmit, and no need to distribute keys or certificates, as it uses the concept of shared secrets.

Shared keys are a set of characters known only to those involved in secure communication. Shared secrets can be any 'password type' string known only to the parties involved in secure transactions.

Shared secrets can be in the form of a pre-shared secret key. Or it is created during the communication session using a key negotiation protocol, such as,Public key cryptography such as Diffie-Hellman, orKerberosEquivalent to symmetric key cryptography.

The drawback is that it requires the secure distribution/transfer of keys or pre-shared secrets to function properly. Searching encrypted messages is also more difficult, as each message must be decrypted individually before searching, which is a performance disadvantage.

Asymmetric key encryption

Asymmetric encryption (also known as public key encryption) uses two separate key pairs to encrypt and decrypt data. They are called 'public key' and 'private key'. Together they are called 'public and private key pairs'.

The main benefit of asymmetric encryption is the increased data security. Users do not need to reveal their private key, thereby reducing the opportunity for network criminals to discover user keys during transmission and gain data access rights.

The drawback is that the key pair is generated when used, so it may require extra care to ensure that they are generated safely and reliably. Typically, keys are communicated 'out-of-band', such as through phone calls to the recipient or by splitting keys between channels such as email and IRC to prevent eavesdropping on a single channel.

Asymmetric encryption uses longer keys than symmetric encryption to provide better security than symmetric key encryption. However, although longer key length is not a disadvantage, it does lead to slower encryption speed.

Hybrid encryption

Today, all practical implementations of public key cryptography adopt some form of hybrid encryption. Popular examples include TLS and SSH protocols, which use public key mechanisms for key exchange (such as Diffie-Hellman) and symmetric key mechanisms for data encapsulation (such as AES).

Hybrid encryption is very useful when data encryption is needed quickly but the impact on system performance is small. The working principle of the encryption process is to use symmetric encryption to encrypt the symmetric key only, and then use asymmetric encryption to encrypt the entire message with this symmetric key, which makes the decryption time faster than traditional encryption.

General data encryption method

PGP

This is an algorithm created by Phil Zimmerman in 1991 using the RSA encryption algorithm. PGP encryption is different from other encryption algorithms because it does not require a server, certificate, or any other type of pre-shared secret between the sender and recipient to use encryption.

People who have access to the public key can encrypt data before sending information to other users without sharing the key with them. Compared to other encryption methods, this makes it less secure but more flexible, as anyone can send encrypted data without having to set up complex security options in advance.

PGP is easier to implement than many other forms of encryption because it does not require a third-party server. However, it is not as secure as other encryption methods that require certificates or encryption keys because anyone can use PGP encryption to encrypt data.

HTTPS

HTTPS is more of a protocol than encryption itself. The encryption protocol in HTTPS uses Transport Layer Security (TLS), previously known as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). It is also sometimes called HTTP over TLS or HTTP over SSL.

Almost all browsers support HTTPS. The benefits of the mixed encryption provided by HTTPS can be obtained without user intervention. The protocol is important because it can prevent people from monitoring the database traffic sent and received between users and websites. This can prevent thieves from discovering the web pages that users are visiting or the information placed in forms or other personal data shared through unencrypted online connections.

MD5

MD5 has various use cases. But the largest is password storage. Since the data in the database may not be secure while passwords must be secure, many passwords have been encrypted with MD5. For example, many Linux systems use MD5 to store passwords.

The checksum of files is usually used with MD5. Websites contain many vulnerabilities that may allow hackers to change download links and trick users into downloading corrupted files.

This can be mitigated by checksums. They work by creating a unique hash that is used with the file. Compare this hash with the downloaded file to ensure it matches. If they match, the file is the same and has not been tampered with. For corrupted files, the situation is exactly the opposite.

The keys used for MD5 encryption change continuously, so even if the MD5 key is leaked, it will only affect the traffic of one session, not all sessions. This makes MD5 encryption a popular choice for banks, government websites, and other information-sensitive enterprises that are crucial to privacy and security.

AES

AES stands for Advanced Encryption Standard. This is a symmetric key algorithm. After a five-year process to replace the aging Data Encryption Standard (DES), it was adopted by the U.S. government as a federal standard in 2002.

AES is a symmetric key encryption algorithm. Computer programs obtain plaintext and process it with an encryption key, then return the ciphertext. When decryption of data is needed, AES uses the same key to process it again to generate decoded data. This method requires fewer computational resources to complete its decryption process, thereby reducing the impact on database performance. Therefore, AES is a good method for protecting sensitive data stored in large databases.

AES encryption protects sensitive information such as credit card numbers or other personal information on insecure networks. This type of encryption uses a 128-bit key, making it difficult to crack. AES can also be used with asymmetric key algorithms such as RSA, which means that certain data can be encrypted with AES and then decrypted with a different key. This makes attacks difficult to implement because the attacker would need to intercept a piece of data and decrypt it with a key that is usually not available to them.

RC4

The popularity of RC4 is related to its simplicity and speed. AES is not as fast as RC4, but it is more secure. RC4 was created by Ron Rivest as early as 1987 for the network security company RSA Security. A stream cipher is a type of encryption technology that can convert plain text into code that cannot be read by anyone without the correct key, byte by byte.

Stream ciphers are linear, so the same key is used to encrypt and decrypt messages. Although they may be difficult to crack, hackers have managed to do so. For this reason, experts believe that stream ciphers cannot be used safely on a wide scale. Many databases still rely on technology to transmit data over the internet.

RC4 is widely supported in many applications and can be used with private or public keys. Since private keys are usually longer than those used for public key encryption, RC4 encryption is widely used in wireless networks due to bandwidth limitations.

To decrypt RC4, it is necessary to know the RC4 key and the RC4 algorithm, which is how RC4 encryption works. For attackers using RC4 to access encrypted data, they need to know the two components of RC4 encryption and any key.

The RC4 algorithm varies depending on the implementation, even when the same key is used, but it is usually close enough that a single decryption program can be written and used in each implementation. When implemented correctly, it has good speed. During its execution, several different operations may occur, such as exchanging keys or replacing tables, depending on the information provided by the offset key byte stream. This makes it difficult for attackers to predict RC4 encryption, even if they can access the RC4 key.

Conclusion 

The Ponemon Institute recently found that nearly 70% of companies experienced at least one data breach last year. Considering how many databases are stored on company networks, this is not surprising. Therefore, it is very important to understand your database encryption options and make wise choices before starting to install databases in the cloud. Fortunately, there are many different methods available, so we recommend that you research and find the security level that best suits your needs - from MD5 protection to military-grade 256-bit AES encryption algorithms.