The Importance of Encryption in Secure File Delivery

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Cyber attacks today are quite advanced and dangerous. Recently, there was a cyber attack on Globe Life Inc., which hit approximately 855,000 customers. That is why we need advanced techniques and methods to keep all sensitive business and customer data safe. Encryption is one of those techniques. It protects sensitive data when we transfer files over the internet. Encryption basically ensures secure file delivery by hiding sensitive information through cryptography.

Today, platforms like Filestack are available that ensure secure file transfer by implementing advanced encryption techniques.

Table of Contents

Understanding Encryption

Encryption involves converting plain text, which might contain sensitive information, into ciphertext. This way, encryption ensures that only authorized individuals can access the data. These authorized individuals have a decryption key through which they can read the data.

For example, say we have a plain text “Lorem ipsum.” When we encrypt it, the text will be converted into something very random with no meaning, such as 32#67*+RUTs2x. To convert it back to plain text, we need a decryption key.

By stopping hackers from accessing and altering sensitive data, encryption ensures data confidentiality and integrity.

Encryption methods, with their complex algorithms, have become imperative. For a long time, governments have used encryption to protect sensitive data. With time, organizations have also realized that encrypting data is one of the best solutions, and they now use it to keep both data at rest and in transit safe. Thus, encryption is now widely used for secure file delivery and transfer.

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Types of Encryption

There are two main encryption methods:

Symmetric encryption
Asymmetric encryption

The table below shows a quick comparison between these two methods:

Symmetric Encryption	Asymmetric Encryption
Uses a single key for both encryption and decryption	Uses two different keys to encrypt and decrypt dataOne key is public, and the other is private or secret key.The two keys are not identical, but they are mathematically related.
Both the parties (sender and recipient) must have access to the same secret key to exchange the data	The public key is used for encryption, and the secret key is used for decryption.
Key distribution is not as secure as asymmetric distribution	More secure for key exchange
Faster and more efficient	Not as fast as symmetric encryption
Common algorithms include:AES-128 AES-256	Common algorithms include: Elliptic Curve CryptographyRivest-Shamir-AdlemanDigital Signature Algorithm
Can be used for for secure file storage and end-to-end encrypted file transfer.	Used to encrypt web-based file transfers through SSL/TLS in HTTPS.

The Role of Encryption in Secure File Delivery

Encryption is a strong technique to ensure digital file security and secure document delivery. Here’s how it can help:

Ensuring Data Integrity

Data tampering is a common cyberattack, where cyber criminals modify and manipulate data by gaining access to confidential data. Therefore, it compromises data integrity.

Encryption protects the data from tampering, ensuring data integrity. No one can read encrypted data without a decryption key. This makes it difficult for cyber attackers to alter sensitive data.

Moreover, asymmetric encryption enables digital signatures. This helps confirm that the file has not been altered.

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Data Confidentiality

Encryption helps ensure only the right people can see a file’s contents, which is important for keeping data private. It changes data into a random, unreadable form, called ciphertext, so that those not permitted cannot read the data. Today, advanced algorithms like AES-256 ensure even better security against sophisticated cyber attacks.

Compliance and Encryption

In many countries, encryption is a part of data privacy regulations, making it compulsory for organizations to implement it. Some key regulations include:

GDPR – Europe: Requires encryption for storing and transferring PII or personal data.
HIPAA – U.S.: Makes encryption compulsory to protect confidential medical records
PCI DSS: Encryption is mandatory for credit card data storage and transmission.

Safe harbor laws are usually applicable to encrypted data, which helps reduce legal penalties.

How Filestack Simplifies Encryption in Secure File Delivery

Filestack is a file management platform. It provides various tools and APIs to upload, transform, and deliver files. Its performance, ease of use, and security make it a reliable platform.

Filestack uses encryption to protect both data at rest (files stored in the cloud) and in transit. It makes use of TLS 1.2 and 2,048-bit keys to encrypt interactions with Filestack services, such as API calls and authenticated sessions. It also utilizes multiple technologies, such as AES-256 encryption and hashed user passwords, to encrypt and protect stored data.

Moreover, Filestack securely manages in-transit and at-rest encryption keys. Fastly and CloudFront manage TLS private keys for in-transit encryption.

Besides encryption, Filestack implements various other security features:

Implements network-level separation and stateful firewalls to ensure unauthorized parties don’t access the network
Uses policies and signatures to improve security
Implements advanced access controls
API keys for authentication

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Conclusion

Encryption is a digital file security technique that protects sensitive information by converting it into random ciphertext. This text doesn’t really have any meaning, which protects the data from cybercriminals.

Encryption is used for various purposes, including secure file delivery and transfer. It is a part of various data privacy laws, such as GDPR and HIPAA.

FAQs

What is encryption technology?

Encryption helps keep digital files and sensitive data safe. It basically converts plain text into ciphertext. When we encrypt data, only those with a proper decryption key can see the original information.