How does VPN encryption work?Ĭomputer nerds much smarter than I have developed ways to create secure channels over the insecure internet. Now, let’s explain just the encryption part of the protocol. It’s a complicated process, but with the processing power of today’s devices, it happens in moments. Finally, your VPN client decrypts the data and sends it back to you.The server then encrypts the data again and sends it to the VPN client.The website accepts the request and sends it back to the server.As the server forwards your request to the internet (the website you’re trying to access in this case), the data is decrypted.The VPN client receives your requests and establishes an encrypted VPN tunnel to the VPN server, which it uses to send encrypted data.You send the request (by going to the website) to your VPN client (app, browser extension, etc.).Allow me to demonstrate with an example of what happens when you try to use a VPN to access a geo-blocked website. What does encryption do in a VPN?Įncryption is what puts “private” in Virtual Private Network. Even for the fastest computer on Earth, it would take billions of years to brute force AES-256.įinally, AES-256 is secure and much faster than, for instance, DES, or Data Encryption Standard, which AES superseded in 2002. And the longer it takes to crack, the more robust the encryption is. #IVPN PERFECT FORWARD SECRECY CRACK#The longer the encryption key, the longer it takes to crack it. Hence AES-256 produces 256 blocks of ciphertext from 256 blocks of plaintext. The keys come in different sizes – 128, 192, and 256 bits, while the blocks are also measured in bits. Īs a block cipher, AES splits the data into block s and applies different cryptographic keys to each. All you need to know about AES-256ĪES(Advanced Encryption Standard)-256 encryption is a widely utilized standard because there are no known ways to decrypt a message encoded with it in a lifetime. This is what happens when AES-256 does its magic – let’s talk about it now. These days, encryption protocols use both methods: they establish communication via asymmetric encryption and then use it to safely exchange keys used in symmetric encryption. Person B then uses it to encrypt the message, which person A can decrypt with their private key. So Person A can take their private key and send it to Person B via any available unsecured channel. Asymmetric encryptionĪsymmetric encryption uses a lot of complicated math to create a pair of keys: a public key that can encrypt a message but not decrypt it and a private key that can decrypt anything encrypted with the public key. Attach the suitcase to the wrist of a serious man via handcuffs īut what if you’re a VPN user who needs to make an encrypted connection to a VPN server? Here, asymmetric encryption can help.It’s fairly easy for, say, old-timey intelligence agencies: But therein lies the problem: how does Person A safely transfer the key to Person B ? The important thing is that both parties have the same key. The approach is simple, and while the key can be as complex as you want, the complexity doesn’t matter. ROT13 is an example of symmetric key encryption. If Person A and Person B communicate via symmetric encryption, they use the same encryption key. Thus, symmetric key and asymmetric key encryption exist. When it comes to sorting encryption methods, the most basic distinction is the approach to the encryption key. But before we tackle that, we need to talk about the types of encryption. That’s why leading encryption protocols use AES-256 algorithms (more on them later!). Of course, we have computers these days – and computers are very good at brute-forcing ciphertext, cracking ROT13 easier-than-effortlessly.
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