Encryption is a word derived from the term cryptic. It is the process of transforming something comprehensible into something ambiguous. Information is locked away in such a way that it can only be retrieved if you have the key that permits you to re-convert the jumbled mess into something understandable.
If I were to send you a secret box of cash that was locked with a special form of padlock, the challenge of getting the key to you safely would arise. This could be almost as difficult as safeguarding the cash in the first place, because if the key is intercepted or a duplicate is made on it's way to you, the padlock will undoubtedly be unlocked.
Then, in the 1970s, Diffie and Hellman released "New Directions in Cryptography". A study that attempted to overcome this problem by finding a way to give you the key in plain sight so you could unlock the padlock while ensuring that no one else could.
The approach provided by the scholars is known as the Diffie-Hellman key exchange, which is analogous to mixing paint colors in that we both agree on a public color. I'm going to combine the public color with my private color, which is only known to me, and you're going to mix your private color, which is also only known to you, with that specific public color. Then we go ahead and switch our colors.
Yes, we're all familiar with the difficulties of unmixing paints, and while everyone knows the original public color, no one can tell what our private colors are. Because these pigments cannot be unmixed, we can keep a shared secret that no one else can guess or decode.
You should be aware that encryption is used in almost every aspect of our digital lives, and not only on the internet. Any time you communicate over a network, whether it's the internet or a mobile network, encryption is almost always used to keep your conversation secure.
Law enforcement authorities can't get access to the horrible information being communicated by criminals on these networks, even if they have a warrant, therefore end-to-end encryption is still being debated. Governments have often proposed legislation prohibiting encryption, which I don't believe will happen anytime soon because encryption is an idea. You don't prohibit the expression of ideas:)
The conflict between public safety and personal privacy has yet to be resolved. Perhaps you believe you have nothing to hide, so there's no need to be concerned, and the government should have access to everything we communicate and share. Consider what happens when governments shift, as has happened recently, and new regimes gain access to the treasure of data that has been collected and stored. What happens when something that wasn't previously considered criminal is now being utilized to discriminate against us? We must exercise extreme caution since, in my opinion, forward secrecy is critical, and a number of encryption techniques currently in use provide us with forward secrecy.
Good thing HIVE is encrypted, it's home and it feels safe and secure on here!
Let me know what you think in the comments area below!
Cheers hivers!
