There are various types and methods of data encryption. Some of the most popular forms of data encryption include single file encryption, folder encryption, volume encryption, whole disk encryption, and of course email encryption.
The Windows XP operating system has the ability to perform file and folder encryption. There are 3rd party tools, like PGP Desktop, which can perform whole disk, logical disk, file, and e-mail encryption.
If you routinely deal with confidential or sensitive information, or if you are concerned about private information falling into someone else's hands, encryption may be the way you want to go. However, there are a few things you should be aware of so you don't have a false sense of security.
First, What Is Data Encryption
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Throughout ancient and modern history people have come up with ways to mask, hide, and verify that information is secure or valid. For instance; the ancient Babylonians in 4000 B.C. used something call intaglio, a process in which images and writing were carved or etched into stone that identified certain Babylonian merchants when they were trading. Each trader, or merchant, had a specific intaglio to make his mark, this way his customers would know that what they were purchasing belonged to, or was produced by, a specific merchant. This is a bit different then encryption, more like today's digital signature, another process typically part of data encryption.
Encryption today is much more advanced and complex. It is used for everything from securing military secrets to keeping intellectual property confidential. There are various forms of encryption techniques, some stronger or more secure than others. In it's basic form, encryption can be thought of as the masking, or the scrambling of original human readable information. The person who is masking the information must provide the person he is sending the information to with some sort of key that allows them to unscramble the information so they can make sense of it. For instance; I use encrypted e-mail messages so I can correspond with my customers on a regular basis. I do this because during certain types of projects my customers and I discuss private information such as security holes discovered during security assessments. This type of information is obviously not something we would want to fall into someone else's hands.
Most Data Does Not Start Out Encrypted So Be Careful
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The primary reason I am writing this article is to point out a couple specific issues with data encryption. During a recent discussion with a friend of mine he told me that he was using Windows XP folder encryption to secure some of his confidential information. He asked me if I thought this was a secure method of storing important documents. My response was yes and no. The data encryption used by Windows XP is relatively secure, but the issue is that the majority of the data that is now encrypted in the folder did not start out that way.
Let's take for example, a word document that contains your personal financial information. You may have written this document so you have a central location where account numbers, social security numbers, and other private and individual identification information is easily retrievable. After you are finished writing the document, you then transferred it to your secure crypter article folder. Since it is now in a secure folder, only you are able to access it because only you know the pass-phrase that was used to generate the encryption key. For the most part, this assumption is correct.
