6 Encryption Methods To Shield Sensitive Data From Prying Eyes (2024)

Encryption is a critical tool that business owners use to protect data, establish customer trust, and maintain regulatory compliance.

Whether you realize it or not, encryption is used in nearly every digital business interaction. When you clicked a link to read this article, your web browser used a type of encryption to secure your connection to our website.

This article discusses six powerful yet common encryption methods to secure your small business's data and then provides a step-by-step process for creating an effective encryption strategy. But before we proceed, let's start with the basics.

Data encryption is a security mechanism that converts your company's plaintext data into encoded information called ciphertext. The cryptic text or numbers can be decoded only with a unique key provided at the time of encryption.

Data encryption methods can be used for data in transit and at rest. Combining this data security mechanism with authentication services ensures that only authorized users can access your business data.

In today's digital landscape, massive amounts of data involving sensitive information are being stored in the cloud and on connected servers—vulnerable to cyberattacks, including ransomware and malware.

If you experience an incident and don't have a data encryption strategy in place, it can hinder operations, harm your reputation, damage trust, cripple finances, and result in compliance and legal concerns. To avoid this, security leaders must pivot to a more human-centric approach when developing an effective cybersecurity program.

“Focusing on people in control design and implementation, as well as through business communications and cybersecurity talent management, will help to improve business-risk decisions and cybersecurity staff retention,” says Gartner. [1]

Although certain variables are out of your control, encryption is small businesses' first line of defense. This proactive step can help you protect one of your greatest security vulnerabilities—unencrypted data. Although protecting against data breaches is the primary benefit, this approach will also safeguard trust in your brand.

Data shows that 84% of consumers believe how a company handles its data reflects how it will treat its customers. So, you want to show your customers you're taking your data responsibilities seriously—especially since so many businesses are doing so. GetApp's 5th Annual Data Security Report shows that companies are taking security more seriously. IT security spending is up at 70% of businesses, resulting in declining ransomware attacks. While this increased funding and awareness are helping companies see positive results, cybersecurity threats evolve and often come back stronger.

While focusing on basic encryption methods, there are two main types used today: symmetric and asymmetric encryption. Each offers its own advantages and ideal use cases. Understanding which to use and when can help protect your organization.

Symmetric encryption

Symmetric encryption is when you use a single symmetric key to both encrypt and decrypt data. The key is shared with all authorized users to allow data access. So, all parties use the same key to encrypt and decrypt info. For example, you encrypt an email using a unique key. After you send that email to a colleague, they will use the same symmetric key to decrypt the email.

The advantages of this type of encryption are faster performance and fewer resources required. However, it is older and less secure compared to asymmetric encryption. As you scale your business, putting trust in one shared key can become a security risk.

Use cases for symmetric encryption include banking and data storage.

Asymmetric encryption

For asymmetric encryption, you use two keys to encrypt and decrypt data. One key is made public (shared with everyone), and the other is kept private (known only to the key's generator, making it confidential to anyone else). The public key encrypts data, and the private key decrypts it. In this case, you won't sacrifice security as you scale.

The use cases for asymmetric encryption range from secure key exchanges and digital signatures to authentication in open systems.

Different encryption methods are based on the type of keys used, encryption key length, and size of the data blocks encrypted.

Here are some of the top encryption methods and encryption types that you can use to safeguard sensitive data for your small business.

1. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)

The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is a symmetric encryption algorithm that encrypts data blocks of 128 bits at a time. It uses keys of 128, 192, and 256 bits to encrypt these data blocks. The 256-bit key encrypts data in 14 rounds, the 192-bit key in 12 rounds, and the 128-bit key in 10 rounds. Each round consists of several steps of substitution, transposition, mixing of plaintext, and more.

You can use AES for Wi-Fi security, mobile app encryption, file encryption, and secure sockets layer/transport layer security (SSL/TLS). In fact, your web browser is currently using AES to encrypt your connection to this website.

2. Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA)

Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) is an asymmetric encryption algorithm based on the factorization of the product of two large prime numbers. Only someone who knows these numbers can successfully decode the message.

RSA is often used to secure data transmission between two communication points. However, its efficiency decreases when encrypting large data volumes. Nonetheless, its distinct mathematical properties and complexity make this encryption method very reliable when transmitting confidential data.

3. Triple Data Encryption Standard (DES)

Triple DES is a symmetric encryption technique and a more advanced form of the Data Encryption Standard (DES) method. It encrypts data blocks using a 56-bit key and applies the DES cipher algorithm three times to each data block. You can use Triple DES to encrypt ATM PINs and UNIX passwords. Popular applications such as Microsoft Office and Mozilla Firefox also use Triple DES.

4. Blowfish/Twofish

Originally designed to replace the DES, Blowfish is a symmetric algorithm process that divides messages into 64-bit segments and encrypts them individually. Blowfish is known for being fast, flexible, and unbreakable. It's in the public domain, so it's free to use, which makes it even more appealing. You can use Blowfish to safeguard transactions in your eCommerce platforms. It can also effectively secure your business's email encryption tools, password management systems, and backup software.

Twofish is a symmetric, license-free encryption method that ciphers data blocks of 128 bits. It's a more versatile successor to the Blowfish and Threefish encryption methods. Twofish always encrypts data in 16 rounds regardless of the encryption key size. Though it's slower than AES encryption, you can use Twofish to secure your file and folder encryption solutions.

5. Format-preserving encryption (FPE)

Format-preserving encryption is a symmetric algorithm that retains the format and length of your data while encoding it. For example, if a customer's phone number is 813-204-9012, FPE will change it to a different one, say 386-192-4019. This way, the format and length remain​​​​​​ the same, but the characters are changed to safeguard the original data.

You can use FPE to secure cloud management software and tools. Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud, some of the most trusted cloud platforms, use this method for cloud encryption.

6. Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC)

Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) is a newer type of public-key cryptography that's stronger than RSA encryption. [2] It uses shorter keys, which makes it faster. It's asymmetric, meaning you can use it in SSL/TLS protocols to strengthen your web communications security. You can also use ECC for one-way encryption of emails and digital signatures in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Building and implementing an encryption strategy is a collaborative effort between your IT, operations, and management teams. First, you must understand the encryption types available and then implement the best options for your organization.

Here are four steps to build an effective encryption strategy for data protection:

1. Classify data. The first step is to decide which data to encrypt. Understand and classify the different types of data you send and store (e.g., credit card numbers, customer information, company proprietary data) based on how sensitive they are, how often they are used, and how they are regulated.

2. Identify the right data encryption solution. Use encryption software tools to encrypt your databases or files containing sensitive information. Standard security apps and tools, such as email security, payment gateways, and cloud security, also contain the database encryption features required to secure sensitive data.

3. Implement strong encryption key management practices. Keep track of your encryption keys so that even if someone else gets hold of them, they won't be able to get into your data. You can do this by using a key management solution to store and manage your encryption keys.

4. Understand the limitations of encryption. Encryption only helps protect sensitive data from hackers. It's equally important to have strong cybersecurity measures such as firewalls and endpoint protection in place.

Protect your business this year and beyond

The data encryption methods we shared in this article are among users' most popular options and, when implemented correctly, can significantly reduce your risk of cybersecurity issues.

Hackers will not stop looking for new prey. Use one or a combination of these methods to strengthen data protection for your small business.