What Is 128 Encryption?
Encryption encodes or scrambles data using an "encryption key." Only a receiving computer with the corresponding "decryption key" can open and view the data or file. This protects your privacy by preventing others from "snooping" on your data.
Other People Are Reading
-
Significance
-
The number of bits in encryption refers to the encryption key size; increasing the bits increases data security. Common encryption sizes are 128-bit and 256-bit encryption.
Security
-
The size of the encryption key is doubled for every bit added to the encryption key. That means that 129-bit encryption has twice the possible combinations of 128-bit encryption.
-
Strength
-
To get the number of possible combinations in 128-bit encryption, multiply "2" by itself 128 times (enter "2^128" on a calculator). 128-bit encryption has over 34,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (34 followed by 36 zeros) combinations.
Time
-
Using a computer that does one billion calculations per second, it would take a hacker over one-sextillion years (10 followed by 21 zeros) to crack a 128-bit encryption key.
Supporting Browsers
-
Internet Explorer 5.5 and later and Firefox 3.0 and later support 128-bit encryption.
-
