Why Do We Use AES-256-GCM to Encrypt Your Data?
This is why we chose the AES-256-GCM encryption algorithm.
As you have learned from several articles: What is HTTPS? and How MITM Attacks Steal Your Data?, the modern internet is not secure, and even with HTTPS as a security measure, malicious individuals can still use other technical means to steal, intercept, and monitor your data transmitted over the internet. Therefore, when transmitting confidential data, to ensure absolute security, please encrypt your original data before transmission.
LocalFileEncrypt.com uses the most advanced and highest standard encryption algorithm AES-256-GCM to protect your data security, and the encryption process takes place only in your browser, maximizing the security of your data.
As you have learned, AES is one of the most secure symmetric encryption algorithms currently available, and it supports multiple encryption modes:
AES-GCM
AES-GCM is an advanced encryption mode that combines confidentiality and integrity in a single operation. It utilizes Counter Mode (CTR) for encryption and Galois Mode for authentication, making it both efficient and secure. AES-GCM is widely used in modern applications, including secure communication protocols such as TLS and IPsec.
How It Works
- Encryption: Data is encrypted using Counter Mode (CTR), generating a unique key stream for each block.
- Authentication: A Galois Message Authentication Code (GMAC) is calculated to ensure the integrity of the ciphertext and any Additional Authenticated Data (AAD).
Features
- Provides encryption, decryption, data integrity, and authentication
- High efficiency, suitable for high-speed applications.
AES-CBC
AES-CBC is a classic block cipher mode that encrypts data in fixed-size blocks using an Initialization Vector (IV). Before encryption, each plaintext block is XORed with the previous ciphertext block to ensure that identical plaintext blocks generate different ciphertext blocks. While AES-CBC provides strong confidentiality, it lacks built-in integrity and authentication mechanisms.
How It Works
- Encryption: Plaintext is divided into fixed-size blocks, each block is XORed with the previous ciphertext block and then encrypted.
- Decryption: The process is reversed, using the IV and ciphertext blocks to recover the original plaintext.
Features
- Provides confidentiality but not integrity or authentication, meaning that when the ciphertext is incorrect, the decrypted original plaintext may be incorrect and the error cannot be detected.
AES-CTR
AES-CTR encrypts consecutive values of a counter and XORs the generated key stream with the plaintext, converting the block cipher into a stream cipher. This mode is highly efficient and supports parallel processing, making it ideal for high-performance applications such as real-time data streams.
How It Works
- Encryption: Encrypts counter values to generate a key stream, then XORs it with plaintext to produce ciphertext.
- Decryption: Uses the same counter values to regenerate the key stream and XORs it with ciphertext to recover plaintext.
Features
- Provides confidentiality but not integrity or authentication, similar to AES-CBC.
Comparison
| Feature | AES-GCM | AES-CBC | AES-CTR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confidentiality | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Integrity | Yes | No | No |
| Authentication | Yes | No | No |
| Efficiency | High | Medium | High |
| Key Size | 128/192/256 bits | 128/192/256 bits | 128/192/256 bits |
Conclusion
AES-GCM not only provides security but also offers integrity checks and authentication, allowing us to verify data integrity and key correctness during decryption, ensuring that data has not been tampered with or corrupted during transmission. Additionally, using a 256-bit key length provides the highest level of security.
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