What is AES encryption?

In this blog post, we will be discussing what AES encryption is and how it works. We will also touch on the benefits of using AES encryption and some of its drawbacks. AES encryption is a type of symmetric-key encryption that is used to protect sensitive data. The data is encrypted with a key and […]

Posted - December 11, 2022

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In this blog post, we will be discussing what AES encryption is and how it works. We will also touch on the benefits of using AES encryption and some of its drawbacks. AES encryption is a type of symmetric-key encryption that is used to protect sensitive data. The data is encrypted with a key and then decrypted with the same key. The advantage of using AES encryption is that it is very fast and secure. The disadvantage is that if the key is lost or stolen, the data cannot be decrypted.

What does AES stand for?

AES stands for Advanced Encryption Standard. It is a symmetric key encryption algorithm that was developed by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). AES is a block cipher that uses a 128-bit block size, and it can use keys of 128, 192, or 256 bits.

Asymmetric-key ciphers

Asymmetric-key ciphers, also known as public-key ciphers, are a type of encryption that uses two keys: a public key and a private key. The public key can be shared with anyone, but the private key must be kept secret. The two keys are mathematically related, and they work together to encrypt and decrypt data.

When data is encrypted with the public key, it can only be decrypted with the private key. This means that only the person with the private key can read the encrypted data. As long as the private key is kept safe, the data is secure.

There are many different types of asymmetric-key ciphers, but one of the most popular is RSA (named after its creators: Rivest, Shamir, and Adleman). RSA is used in many different applications, including HTTPS (which is used to encrypt communication between web browsers and web servers).

Symmetric-key ciphers

Symmetric-key ciphers are the most common type of cipher and are used in a wide variety of applications. AES is a symmetric-key cipher that is used in many commercial and government applications.

Is AES secure?

AES is a symmetric key encryption algorithm that is used to encrypt and decrypt data. AES is a block cipher that uses a 128-bit block size and a key size of 128, 192, or 256 bits. AES is considered to be very secure and has been adopted by the US government for use in their own encryption systems.

Brute force attacks

A brute force attack is a type of attack that tries to guess the secret key used to encrypt data. This is usually done by trying every possible key until the correct one is found.

AES encryption is very resistant to brute force attacks because it uses a very large key space. This means that there are a huge number of possible keys, making it very unlikely that an attacker will be able to guess the correct one.

There have been a few instances where brute force attacks have been successful against AES encryption, but these have generally used weaknesses in the implementation of AES rather than the algorithm itself.

Key attacks

There are three main types of attacks on AES: brute force, known plaintext, and chosen plaintext.

Brute force is the most basic type of attack, and just involves trying every possible key until the right one is found. This type of attack is not very practical, since it would take an incredibly long time to try every possible key.

Known plaintext attacks involve having some information about the encrypted text. This information can be used to narrow down the search space for the key, making the attack more efficient.

Chosen plaintext attacks involve being able to choose what gets encrypted. This can be used to find out information about the encryption process and potentially discover the key.

Side channel attacks

AES encryption is a type of symmetric-key algorithm that is used to protect information by encrypting it. The data is encrypted with a key and then decrypted with the same key. AES encryption is used in a variety of applications, such as WiFi security and disk encryption.

Side channel attacks are a type of attack that exploits vulnerabilities in the implementation of AES encryption, rather than attacking the AES algorithm itself. These attacks can be used to recover the key used to encrypt the data. Side channel attacks can be performed using a variety of techniques, such as timing attacks and power analysis.

The human factor

AES encryption is a type of encryption that uses a key to encrypt and decrypt data. The key is generated using a mathematical algorithm and is then used to encrypt and decrypt data. AES encryption is considered to be very secure and is used by many organizations, including the US government, to protect sensitive data.

How AES works

AES is a symmetric key encryption algorithm that was developed in the 1970s. AES uses a key that is 256 bits long to encrypt and decrypt data. The key is divided into four parts, each of which is 64 bits long. The four parts of the key are used to generate two subkeys, each of which is 128 bits long. The first subkey is used to encrypt the data, and the second subkey is used to decrypt the data.

AES encryption works by combining the plaintext with the ciphertext using an XOR operation. The ciphertext is then modified using a substitution-permutation network. This network substitutes one element for another and permutes the order of the elements in the block. Finally, the ciphertext is XORed with the last round key to produce the plaintext.

An overview of how AES works

AES encryption is a type of symmetric-key cryptography, which means that it uses the same key to encrypt and decrypt data. AES is a block cipher, which means that it operates on blocks of data, rather than on individual bits. In AES, each block of data is 16 bytes long.

AES encryption works by combining the 16 bytes of data in a block with a 16-byte key using a mathematical operation called an XOR operation. This produces a new 16-byte block of data that is then encrypted using the AES algorithm. The result is a ciphertext that can only be decrypted by combining it with the original key using another XOR operation.

AES encryption is incredibly secure and has been adopted by the US government as the standard for encrypting classified information. It is also used by many commercial organizations to protect their confidential data.

AES-CBC vs AES-GCM

AES-CBC vs AES-GCM:

AES-CBC (Advanced Encryption Standard - Cipher Block Chaining) is a standard for symmetric key cryptography that has been adopted by the U.S. government. It uses a block cipher algorithm with 128-bit block size and supports key sizes of 128, 192, and 256 bits.

AES-GCM (Advanced Encryption Standard - Galois/Counter Mode) is a mode of operation for the AES block cipher that provides authenticated encryption. GCM is more secure than CBC because it includes integrity checks in addition to encryption. It supports key sizes of 128, 192, and 256 bits.

Final thoughts

AES encryption is a powerful tool that can help keep your data safe. However, it's important to understand how it works and what its limitations are. AES encryption is not a perfect solution, but it is a very good option for protecting your data.