SayPro SECURITY ADMINISTRATION PROCEDURES

Encryption

The primary purpose of encryption is to protect the confidentiality of digital data stored on computer systems or transmitted via the Internet or other computer networks. Modern encryption algorithms play a vital role in the security assurance of IT systems and communications as they can provide not only confidentiality, but also the following key elements of security:

· Authentication: the origin of a message can be verified.

· Integrity: proof that the contents of a message have not been changed since it was sent.

· Non-repudiation: the sender of a message cannot deny sending the message.

Network encryption (sometimes called network layer, or network level encryption) is a network security process that applies crypto services at the network transfer layer – above the data link level, but below the application level. The network transfer layers are layers 3 and 4 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model, the layers responsible for connectivity and routing between two end points. Using the existing network services and application software, network encryption is invisible to the end user and operates independently of any other encryption processes used. Data is encrypted only while in transit, existing as plaintext on the originating and receiving hosts.