Computer encryption is a process that transforms plain data into unreadable data, which can only be read by someone who has access to a key or password that unlocks the encryption. But how does encryption actually work?
One way to understand encryption is to think of it like a glass of lemonade. Imagine that you and I each have a glass of water in a public room, and everyone can see what we have with us. You have a bowl of sugar and a spoon, while I have a lemon and a knife. You take some sugar with the spoon and mix it with your water, but only you know how much sugar you used. I cut a portion of lemon and squeeze it into my water, but only I know how much lemon juice I added. Then, we exchange our glasses. You now have a glass of water with lemon juice in it, and I have a glass of water with sugar mixed in it. Next, you take the same amount of sugar as before and mix it with the lemon juice. I cut the same portion of lemon as before and mix it with the sugar water.
The result is that we both have the same lemonade, but no one else in the room can make the exact same lemonade because they don’t know the exact amount of sugar or lemon juice that was used. This lemonade represents the encrypted message that was passed in plain view.
In computer encryption, the plain data is like the water, and the encryption key or password is like the lemon or sugar. The encryption process scrambles the data using a complex algorithm, making it unreadable to anyone without the key or password. When the recipient has the correct key or password, they can unscramble the data and read the message.
