Encryption The Good kind of obscurity Brad Saxton, Senior System Administrator, ITS

What Is Encryption? In short, it is changing information into another format that makes it impossible (or really, really, really, really hard) to read unless you know/have something In other words, it is a way of ensuring that the information is only readable by the intended recipient. Think about "secret messages" that spies send to each other The math behind it is really complicated but you don't need to know any of that. Suffice it to say that using good encryption makes it virtually impossible in a finite amount of time to decrypt the information

Why do we need it? More and more critical information is being sent around and might get inadvertently exposed to less than ethical people Personal information Passwords Credit cards Pictures Losing these can be at a minimum embarrassing and potentially costly Confidential Information at Work Student information HR information Losing these can be potentially damaging to Brock and very costly in terms of money and reputation

Where Can/Should It Used? Mobile Devices (ie. Tablets, phones, laptops and USB keys) Encrypting your storage makes it "impossible" to access in the event your device is lost or stolen Web sites Always check that the "lock" icon is there when doing anything private Email Encrypted documents make it impossible for others to read in the event the email is sent to the wrong people

Availability Most modern operating systems allow for the encryption of the entire storage including USB sticks and external drives MAC OSX (File Vault) Windows (BitLocker) Apple IOS (ie. IPhone) Enabled by default if you use a passcode/password (you have one right?) Android On by default for Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) if you use a passcode/password (and who wouldn't) Available in Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) through 5.0 (Lollipop) Word Processors/Spreadsheets All can encrypt a file with a password

Sending Files Via Email Email is by definition "not secure" since it is not guaranteed to be encrypted and it is going through multiple servers The email could be intercepted You could send it to the wrong person(s) Having completely encrypted email is possible but far too awkward for most users When sending confidential information to a colleague or outside person via email, it is important to make sure that the information can't be read by anyone but the intended recipient By encrypting the file before sending, even if the file "goes wandering", the password is still required to open the file Never send the password the same way that you send the file. For example, call the person, text them, "snail mail" it, have an agreed upon password

Checking a website for encryption Demonstration Checking a website for encryption

Demonstration Encrypting a word/excel document

Demonstration How to encrypt a file for USB, email or file transfer

Questions? See brocku.ca/information-technology/security for complete details There are no "stupid questions"….. ….............only "stupid Answers"