Encryption as Fast As Possible
Techquickie
·Techquickie
·2015-05-07
·
1,022 words · ~5 min read
0:00
when we visit a website that features that little padlock in the corner of our
0:03
browser we're trusting it to keep our data safe and whether it's our credit
0:08
card numbers sensitive work documents or those questionable photos that you told
0:12
your friend not to take various types of encryption standards ensure that they
0:16
are kept out of the prying hands of e
0:19
Intruders Intruders whatever while they
0:23
zip around on the internet but aside from the reassuring little icon on your
0:27
computer screen what's actually going on what is encryption all right so while
0:33
today's video focuses on encryption on the web specifically and the procedures
0:38
used for encrypting data can be massively complex the fundamental idea
0:42
behind all encryption is really quite simple whenever you transfer encrypted
0:47
information your computer turns that data into an unintelligible mess or
0:52
Cipher text that can only be put back into a readable form by unlocking it
0:57
with a key of some sort that tells the receiving computer how to decode the
1:02
incoming message this basic concept has actually been used to send secret
1:06
messages since long before the invention of computers ciphers of various kinds
1:11
have been used for thousands of years and machines that could encode and
1:15
decode messages were in use before The Modern PC ever came along Thomas
1:19
Jefferson invented a wheel Cipher that was nothing more than wooden discs
1:23
around an axle and then the Germans famously used a typewriter like device
1:28
called the Enigma machine to encrypt military messages during World War II
1:32
although the Allies were able to crack that code now back to the web era modern
1:37
Electronics often use a widespread encryption scheme called public key
1:41
encryption suppose you want to send an email when you click Send the receiving
1:46
computer will provide your computer with what's called a public key a public key
1:50
is generated by the computer just randomly choosing a very large number
1:54
and running it through some mathematical functions once your computer receives
1:58
this public key it uses the the key to lock the email using a special algorithm
2:02
then sends it on its way now since anyone can request a public key from a
2:07
computer the public key can't be used to unlock a message otherwise anyone could
2:12
intercept and read your encrypted emails that would defeat the purpose instead
2:16
the recipient's computer unlocks the message with a private key that is
2:21
stored on that system alone making it mercifully impossible for anyone else to
2:25
do the terrible poetry you sent to your girlfriend that has her rethinking
2:29
things public key encryption isn't just used for email it's actually the basis
2:33
of tons of websites that require you to sign in securely if you've ever clicked
2:38
on that little padlock and saw a mention of SSL or TLS these are two
2:42
implementations of public key encryption that are widely used by Google Facebook
2:47
Microsoft and many more to make sure that only you can access your data or
2:51
change your settings now once the sensitive data actually arrives at its
2:54
destination there are a number of other encryption methods used to make sure it can sit on the computer or server safely
3:00
for example you probably have a password and credit card number stored with
3:04
Amazon for example how do they keep those things safe often web servers will
3:09
hash your passwords meaning that they're converted into encrypted strings of text
3:14
through a process that is extremely difficult to reverse and can't be
3:18
unlocked with a key now with all that said it is important to remember that no
3:23
system of encryption is perfect and experts in the field are constantly
3:27
searching for weaknesses in encryption algorithms and devising new ones to
3:32
outsmart hackers so next time you're G chatting a friend about how awesome the
3:36
latest episode of tech quick you was remember that it was really an epic
3:40
digital arms race that allowed you to do that without everyone knowing exactly
3:45
how much of your free time you spend listening to me talk speaking of
3:49
whatever I was talking about mop.com they have all kinds of cool stuff on
3:54
that their site they got like knives they got like keyboards and key apps
4:00
they got like headphones basically if
4:03
it's a consumer electronic item that's like hip and cool and people want to buy
4:08
it m drop works with the manufacturers and Distributors to get the lowest
4:12
possible prices depending on how many people want to buy it so the way it
4:17
works is the more people commit to buy the more people get an even lower price
4:22
on one of the community curated deals that's available on the site so all you
4:26
got to do is sign up you can start browsing around and finding cool stuff
4:31
uh really audio products are a really big one but they have all kinds of
4:36
different stuff and often only available for limited time although sometimes
4:41
particularly popular deals come back like for example they have the ant lion
4:46
mod mic back right now we've actually done a review of that over on my other
4:49
channel Linus Tech tips and I think the longer I keep doing this the more likely
4:53
it is that let's go for a double oh the more likely it is that I'm going to cut
4:57
myself with this so M drop does not any way condone the unsafe use of knives but
5:02
they definitely do sell them to even me
5:06
so uh is that unsafe I don't know you can find out by clicking on the link in
5:10
the video description thanks for watching guys like this video if you liked it dislike it if you thought it
5:14
sucked leave a comment if your feelings are more complicated than either of those things and if you have suggestions
5:17
for future fast as popal episodes just like this one and as always don't forget
5:20
to subscribe to Techquickie for more videos just like this