Encryption Everywhere

(SCMagazine) Data encryption for years has been the go-to security technology to protect the most sensitive data in an organization because it is so effective at stopping cybercriminals from exploiting information assets. This lengthy article describes current encryption security at such organizations as GoDaddy, FEI Systems (healthcare), and Acosta (sales & marketing), as well as European Unions GDPR.
A key question for IT and security executives as they look to bolster defenses with more encryption tools: What impact is the encryption technology having on systems performance and user experience and productivity?
Looking ahead toward future challenges, the advent of quantum computing threatens to defeat current encryption methodologies. Modern public key encryption derives its security from the difficulty of factoring a large number into two prime numbers, Frymier says. Some conspiracy theorists think the U.S. National Security Administration (NSA) has solved this problem and can break any encryption. “Personally, I don’t believe that,” John David Frymier of Cisco says. “Others argue that quantum computers will make short work of our ‘modern encryption.’ I’ll start worrying about that when quantum computers become more than a gleam in a theorist’s eye.”