OCU C)ISSO A Discussion Lesson 07
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One common symmetric cipher is AES, which stands for advanced encryption standard. In simple terms, AES is like a very strong digital lock that uses one key to both lock and unlock information. Because the same key is used on both ends, the sender and the receiver must both have a copy of that key. If someone does not have the key, they cannot read the protected information. You can think of it like a locked box; i put a message inside, lock it with a key, and send the box to you. Since you have the same key, you can open it and read what i wrote. Anyone else who grabs the box on the way cant open it because they don’t have the key. AES is widely trusted because it is fast, secure and used in many everyday technologies like online banking, WIFI protection and secure messaging.
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Your analogy of AES being like a locked box was crystal clear and very easy to visualize. I particularly liked how you put it in terms of sending a box that only the keyholder could unlock; really puts the concept of encryption into real terms, especially for someone who might not understand much about technology. I also found it helpful how you related this to real-life applications like online banking and Wi-Fi protection; that shows how it impacts life. Your explanation balances simplicity with accuracy very well.
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One example of a symmetric cipher is DES, which stands for Data Encryption Standard. To explain it in simple terms, imagine you are sending a private message to a friend on Facebook Messenger. When Messenger uses encryption, it protects your message so that only you and your friend can read it. With DES, both of you would share the same secret key, almost like a shared password. When you type your message, the key scrambles it into something that looks like random symbols so that no one else, even if they intercept it, could understand it.
When your friend receives the message, their device uses the same key to unscramble it and turn it back into readable text. DES does this by mixing the message through several steps, making it extremely hard for anyone to guess what it originally said without the key. Although newer methods are used today, DES is a simple example of how symmetric ciphers work: one key locks the message, and the same key unlocks it.
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Hi, Mjulius. I like your example of DES being used with messaging someone on social media. With the amount of messaging used today, this is a great analogy to show how protecting data works with DES and why it is important. We expect our conversations to be mainly private between the sender and receiver, so encryption like DES must be used.
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Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES) is a type of symmetric block cipher. A block cipher means the data is being encrypted in blocks, similar to picking up stacks of boxes at a time rather than picking up each individual box.
The term symmetric is referring to it using a symmetric key, which is essentially like having a shared key to a house. A house key involves using the same type of key to lock and unlock the house. Symmetric keys are used for both hiding the message of data from others (locking the house) and showing the data (unlocking the house). Triple DES uses two or three different keys to implement three rounds of encryption. This is similar to having a few locks on a door that must require a different key for each lock, but each key can both lock and unlock the door regardless. With the technology of 3DES, there are different modes, but they all essentially add that increased level of encryption to better protect the data just like someone might want more protection for their door.
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AES uses a mathematical equation a “key” to encrypt data into something unreadable. Putting very simply, lets say the data we are hiding is the number 2, and our key is “+2” the encrypted result is 4 (2+2=4). If you receive the encrypted data (4) do not know the equation (+2) you cannot get the original data because the number 4 can be the result of many equations (3+1, 5-1, 8/2)
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I liked the use of the simple number equation to explain the process of AES; it made a very complicated idea seem much easier to comprehend. I think that your example is great because it shows how, on the other end, the same key is required to figure out the original data, which is the main point of symmetric ciphers. I also like how you pointed out that without knowing the key, that encrypted number could mean many things; that really helps someone new to cybersecurity understand why encryption is secure.
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One of the symmetric ciphers I will be explaining now is Blowfish. Blowfish is a technique for securing information-when readable data is transformed to scrambled code that only a person with the secret key can unlock. Suppose you have a notebook into which you write messages, but prior to sending it to your friend, you use a special pen that jumbles the letters in a very special way. Only your friend, having the same pen or knowing the secret method, is able to read the message.
Blowfish works such that it takes small portions of your message and mixes them through a series of steps using the secret key. If somebody intercepts the message without the key, it just seems to be random letters and numbers. Blowfish is fast and flexible; hence, it has found applications in the protection of files, emails, and even some kinds of internet connections. What happens is that one secret code locks and unlocks the information, and both sender and receiver need to know it. That makes Blowfish a very good example of a symmetric cipher when it comes to everyday digital security.
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