5 Reasons why encryption is essential for your business

How to protect critical company data from cybercriminals and boost customer trust

What is Encryption?

Encryption is a method of transforming sensitive digital data into an unreadable state or form, ensuring that access remains limited only to those with the correct decryption key, or password.

In today’s data-driven world, as businesses store and manage critical data assets in the online cloud, digital security measures like encryption can protect company data from cybercriminals.

By using powerful algorithms as data-guards against hackers, encryption is a vital cybersecurity tool that enables companies to optimize data security and prevent unauthorized data access.

Types of Encryption

Data encryption methods are broadly divided into two main categories:

Symmetric Encryption

This is a method where the same key – or password – is used by both communicating parties to both encrypt and decrypt digital data. Both sender and receiver must share the same key for the decryption process to take place. Symmetric encryption algorithms convert data into a form that cannot be decoded by anyone who doesn’t have the password.

Asymmetric Encryption

Securing data with asymmetric encryption is a different method because it requires two separate keys to perform the encryption and decryption processes. A public key is used to encrypt the data and only its corresponding private key is able to convert that data back into a readable form. Only authorized people should have private key access.

Passionate and expert in enterprise web development since 2013, our teams design and develop your web and mobile projects.

Which one is better? 

Choosing the right encryption process that works best for your brand will depend on your workflow’s specific requirements. Let’s examine some of the pros and cons of both symmetric and asymmetric encryption:

￭ It’s worth noting that symmetric encryption is an old encryption technique and asymmetric encryption was developed a lot more recently.

￭ Because of the complex maths and two-step procedure involved, asymmetric encryption is a much slower method to execute overall.

￭ Precisely because of its simplicity, symmetric encryption is always the preferred option when having to transmit vast amounts of data.

￭ Data encrypted with asymmetric encryption is ultimately more secure in the long-run because two separate keys are used for encryption and decryption. 

In this article, we’ll examine the top 5 reasons why your company can benefit from adopting encryption practices.

Data Security

In the age of e-commerce, frequent data breaches are a costly affair for companies of all sizes. That’s why transferring large amounts of data is safer with a comprehensive encryption solution.

While other digital security options like firewalls can prevent external data access, unencrypted company data is still accessible to cybercriminals if an internal business network is infiltrated.

As hackers are more likely to target data assets that are easier to decode, encryption ensures that raw company data remains unusable for outsiders, even in the case of a major data breach.

Whether your company data is stored or in transit, data theft from hackers or internal staff can be avoided by implementing smart data encryption solutions throughout your business workflow.

Data Integrity

Another major business benefit of encryption is that it protects data from being tampered with. Any attempt to alter data through unauthorized access is visible if that data has been encrypted.

Although encryption keeps data secure and communication confidential, data integrity ensures that received data is valid data from the sender and that it has not been altered or manipulated.

Many companies primarily focused on how to keep their critical data secure, often do not take preventive measures and overlook the potential damage that can be caused by data alteration. 

Data integrity matters because hackers can penetrate unencrypted company data, alter it or encrypt it, and then blackmail the company by requesting ransom in order to provide data access.

For the web development of your software, consult our software development department, which is at your disposal for all your developments.

Data-Law Compliance

A top priority for IT professionals in the cybersecurity sector is to always comply with a range of legal, insurance and industry-specific rules on how digital data can be stored and transmitted.

High-quality encryption software is one of the cheapest and simplest ways to make sure your company can protect customer data and operate in accordance with latest data-protection laws.

Ever wondered what keeps credit card data secure when shopping online? It’s no surprise that encryption has been a vital standard practice within the Payment Card Industry (PCI) for years.  

The worldwide adoption of consumer privacy acts, such as GDPR in Europe and CCPA in the US, has increased the need for companies to protect their customers’ confidential information.

Remote Work

Regardless of geographic location, cloud computing enables remote access to critical business applications, expands hiring opportunities for companies and allows for flexible working hours.  

Encryption essentially makes it easier for businesses to establish and manage remote workflows as company data can stay secure even if employees aren’t following IT security rules.  

Companies with remote workforces can use encryption tools to avoid the risk posed by public wi-fi networks and remote employees working on personal smartphones and laptops at home.

With Covid-19 increasingly forcing companies to explore remote work arrangements, cloud encryption can help your business operate remotely without compromising critical data security. 

Client Trust

The bottom line of any business success story is how much customers ultimately trust a product or service. The link between encryption and building customer trust in a brand is a no-brainer.

Consider how it takes a long time to establish customer trust and very little time to destroy it. Recovering customer trust after a critical data breach or leak is expensive and often impossible. 

It’s worth noting that a 2021 State of Consumer Privacy survey conducted in the US and UK, found that only 21% of people trust global brands to keep their personal data safe and secure.

Even if today’s consumers are willing to trade their personal data for free and personalized digital products and services, they are increasingly concerned with data privacy and security.

Do you run an online business that needs protection from digital attacks? At Bocasay, optimizing digital security is our area of expertise. Our dedicated teams of developers help digital brands reach their full potential around the world. Get in touch to find out how we can help you.