Why Data Encryption?

It is becoming more and more important to protect your sensitive, personal and corporate data. With the advancement and proliferation of computer and communications technology, more information is being exchanged over phone lines or by satellite links. It is these same advances that make it possible to intercept your data transmissions. The need to protect private information is critical. The solution is data encryption.

One of the earliest forms of data encryption is known as the "n+1" method, where you shift the letters up 1. An example would be ,the word "bad". Using the n+1 method you would substitute c for b, b for a, and e for d, the result would be "cbe" for the word "bad". This is a relatively easy code to break. New methods have been developed using complex algorithms.

The most widely used encryption algorithm today is know as DES (Data Encryption Standard), developed by the IBM corporation and has been adopted as an official Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS). At the time of its creation DES was beyond the technology of the time. Since then, as the power of computers has increased, the strength of encryption has had to increase also. The first DES used a 56 bit "key", the length of the "key" has been increased to 128 bits, in an attempt to stay ahead of the todays technology. Another method using DES is called "Triple DES", which involves three passes of encryption and decryption using two different keys.

There are other methods to encrypt your information. Additional information may be obtained by contacting the following website:

http://www.netsurf.com/nsf/v01/03/nsf.01.03.html#sc1

Check out the following software for your encryption needs:

Encrypt-it v3.2 for Win95, Encrypt-it for Win3.1 & DOS, Windows Encryption Toolkit