Encryption

What is Encryption?

Encryption is primarily used to safeguard the contents of a message so that only the intended recipient could read it. This was done by replacing the contents with unrecognizable data, which could be understood only by the intended recipient. This is how encryption became a method to protect data from those who might want to steal it.

Encryption is when you change data with a special encoding process so that the data becomes unrecognizable (encrypted). You can then apply a special decoding process and you will get the original data back (decrypted). By keeping the decoding process a secret, nobody else can recover the original data from the encrypted data.

The encoding process follows an encryption algorithm like AES 256 which is public. However, the process itself depends on the key, which is used to encrypt the data and decryption it to retrieve the original data.

The key is kept secret. Without the key, anyone who might succeed in accessing the data will only see a "Ciphertext", which will have no real meaning. Hence, the data is protected.

Why we encrypt your data

The final layer of protection- Though a comprehensive security strategy helps a company protect data from hackers, encryption takes the final stand against attempts to steal your data. It brings data protection to completion as it ensures your data can neither be damaged nor be stolen in the unfortunate event of a security breach.

Privacy- Encryption is a reassurance to privacy concerns surrounding the internet. Encryption helps protect privacy by turning personal information into “for your eyes only” data intended only for the parties that need them. When you interact with us and store your data in our servers, encryption helps us ensure you have absolute privacy.

What we mean by 'data'

There are two types of data that we deal with-

1. Customer data- The data you store with us through services. Typically, this data is handled by a service through a customer's account that can be identified in our IAM (Identity and Access Management) service. Depending on the sensitivity of data and the user's requirements, some customer data are encrypted while some are not. Sensitive data are those that can cause harm to related individuals or organisations when exposed.

2. Derived data- The data which is not directly given by you, but is derived from your data. For example, auth tokens, unique IDs, URLs and reports etc.. are stored with us. Depending on the sensitivity of data, some derived data are encrypted while others are not.