In layman's terms, encryption is the process of converting readable or understandable information to a form that cannot be understood or read. This information, which cannot be read or understood, is often known to be ciphered information or encrypted data. The process of recovering back the encrypted information is known as Decryption. There are several angles to Encrypting your data, do you want to encrypt a document, your e-mail, or maybe even your entire disc?  

Encryption is considered an annoyance by some businesses and people as it can be a bother you if you try to share files or forget your encryption key. Many people follow tips and tricks to prevent hackers from breaking into their computers and wireless networks, which is definitely a good thing. Preventative measures are a great start in protecting your computer, but preparing for when a successful attack hits is equally important.

Encrypting one single document, can be done as easily as it can be undone, assuming you have the key to decrypt it. But often people will neglect other aspects of encryption. For example, if a document lies unencrypted on a server and it is downloaded from the server to a machine to be encrypted prior to be sent, there are good chances it will be intercepted before encryption. Encryption cannot be taken lightly and should be thought through fully instead of in a segmented maner.

The main benefit of data encryption is that even if you were to lose your computer, get malicious malware or were to be hacked, the data inside your computer would still be safe. It goes the same with website encryption or encrypting e-mails... Encryption of data gives you one last saving grace, the data may no longer be in your hands, but at least no one else can see it or use it.

Now, you may be asking, what are the chances that you'll lose your data? It can't be that simple can it?

Laptop theft is a rampant crime that is constantly rising, and it can happen instantly, anywhere. A study by the Ponemon Institute in 2009 showed that in the first half of 2008, across 106 airports, 12,000 laptops were stolen or lost every week! That averages to about 1 laptop being stolen every 53 seconds!  Tomorrow, it could be the laptop you use for work or the laptop you use personally; they both contain valuable information and are easy to steal. Opportunities of geting your laptop stolen are more frequent in Airports, Libraries, but also in college campus, at work or in some hotels, at home during a robbery, public transportations and the list goes on...

Year after year, laptop theft continues to rise. In the US, according to the FBI, the number of reported stolen laptops in 2009 went up 32% from the previous year, totaling 128,280 reported stolen laptops! The ambient recession climate hasn't helped...

Another angle is e-mail service providers. Your e-mails can easily be read by hackers who are keeping watch on your computer ports. Though the use of a good firewall can reduce the chances of intrusion attempts, the limitations of the firewall can't stop any unauthorized person from sniffing at the e-mail packets leaving the computer. In other words, the e-mail data is safe only as long as it is within the computer. To secure your e-mails, you need file encryption. Online service providers allow e-mail encryption so that your e-mail is encrypted before it leaves the computer. This way, even if anyone is successful in accessing the data, he or she cannot comprehend it.

Nowadays, mail messages are encrypted to prevent the content of the message from being read by anyone but the intended recipient. Without going too far, what proof do you have that an e-mail you have received is genuine? Digital signature helps you to verify the author of a message. Digital Encryption is also on all the websites where the URL stars with https, it is there each time you log into your internet banking, it is there to when you pay on amazon, iTunes, and much more...