Posted on June 7, 2017 at 10:25 AM

Everything You Should Know About end-to-end Encryption

What has become common these days in the tech industry is the embroidering of end-to-end encryption. Be it Whatsapp, Google or any other tech behemoth, there has been a common jargon in the tech fraternity that is none other than encryption. However, this term has somewhat confused a layperson whether or not to care about it.

Seemingly, it has also noted that many people think if they have nothing to hide, they should not care about wasting their time in setting up end-to-end encryption.

Here I’m to reveal this fact that whether or not you have anything to hide, you still need to implement encryption for your online privacy and security.

“I REALLY BELIEVE THAT WE DON’T HAVE TO MAKE A TRADE-OFF BETWEEN SECURITY AND PRIVACY. I THINK TECHNOLOGY GIVES US THE ABILITY TO HAVE BOTH.”
– JOHN POINDEXTER

What is End-To-End Encryption?

To cut to the chase, end-to-end encryption is a method of transforming all your communication into unreadable codes that even the service provider can not decipher. This makes your communication snooping free and ultra secure. Only the person to whom you are in conversation with can get his eyes on the thread for your chat.

Encryption comes in two types. The one is symmetric encryption which means there is no need to use keys and the other is asymmetric encryption that uses a single key both for encryption and decryption. It is a two-way function while symmetric is one way.

These are cryptographic keys that give the control only to the users who are communicating. No eavesdropping can harm your online privacy as long as your chat is encrypted.

The reason why is it called end-to-end encryption is that it takes the responsibility of encrypting the data when it is at rest, during the transit and until it reaches the destination where it is supposed to decipher.

Which Data Can Be Encrypted?

Substantially, all your data and metadata can be encrypted to provide you an extra layer of security. Moreover, your phone call, SMS, MMS, photos, videos, music, web browsing history, in short, every data that you store in your mobile or on the computer can be secured with end-to-end encryption.

When talking about end-to-end encryption, it would be unfair if we leave VPN undisclosed. VPN software which is a leading cyber security suite also works by applying military grade end-to-end encryption. This high level of encryption encrypts the tunnel through which the internet data of the consumer passes. This is how the VPN secures the connection from ISP’s snooping and agency’s mass surveillance.

Know all about VPN here: Everything you need to know about VPN

What Are the Perks Of End-to-End Encryption?

Safe to say that end-to-end encryption comes with a handful of benefits that ensure your online privacy and security. Let’s go into the depth of each perk that this encryption has to offer you.

It provides you a higher level of confidentiality of your financial data if proper algorithm modules are used.
It serves as an active shield between your data and the cruel world of hackers and scammers out there.
End-to-end encryption comes in handy when you live in such a state where the government sanctions the ISPs to sell your data to the third parties.
Furthermore, it protects your online privacy from agencies like NSA rummaging through your data in the name of national security.
Even if you do not care about the benefits above, do you mind keeping your data to yourself only? The data that may paint the inward narrative of yourself and the people you talk to.

Hold On! But Why Is It Often Embroidered Or Avoided by the Webs?

Despite the importance of end-to-end encryption, there are still many websites and tech titans that either embroid or avoid it to implement in their product or service. The rationale of this is that implementing end-to-end encryption is not at all a piece of cake. In fact, it requires a great deal of scientific computation to integrate encryption and cryptographic keys.

Consequently, this results in costing more and making the app more complicated to use. Hence, the users then avoid such products, and they end up becoming less profitable.

Why Isn’t It In Government Agencies’ Good Books?

Bear this fact with me for a moment that governments and organizations snoop through your online activities and their watchdogs like ISPs retain your data round the clock. Such encryption can potential come in the way of government’s mass surveillance that is why it is not much appreciable by the higher authorities.

Bottom Line-Why Should I Care?

To summarize this, all I want to say is this is the high time to take your online privacy and security in your hands, rather than looking up the government to do so.