the advantages and disadvantages of encryption in user compu

the advantages and disadvantages of encryption in user computing.

Explain why encryption has not become a standard in user computing. What are some hurdles in successfully implementing encryption?

Solution

==>> I assume by that by saying user computing, you mean the typical user(technical or non-technical) using a computer system.
Well, there are hell of information about the advantages and disadvantages of encryption on the internet. But I will simply it in few lines so as to get a perspective of both pros & cons of encryption.
Advantages :
-> it separates the data from the device security where it is stored. It gives another level of security to the data.
-> it prevents the data breaches.
-> since the data is encrypted, you need not to worry about the security of the data while transmitting.
-> you can encrypt the data by common terms between the two party. Both party will share the key to decrypt the data. So you can be assured that only the intended person is able to access your confidencial data.

Disadvantages :
-> encryption is a very complex technology and to be taken a complete care of the whole process.
-> basic encryption requires passwords to encrypt or decrypt the file. If you forget the password, you will loose all your data because you no longer will be able to decrypt the file.
-> At enterprise level, encrypting data & generate encryption keys required to encrypt or decrypt the file, is a very computationally expensive task.
-> management of the keys is an extra task for the administrator.
-> in case of full disk encryption, there is a reduced overall system performance.
-> if the encryption implementation is poor, that is, the key generation algorithm is poor, then it will create a false sense of security, even though that\'s easily hackable.

==>> The reason why encryption has not become a standard in user computing lies in all the drawbacks of encryption process.

==>> In sucessfully implementing ecryption, there are certain challenges refering to the drawbacks above :
-> The encryption algorithm should be very efficient enough to generate keys in less time.
-> It should also be complex enough to generate the key which is not computationally easy to replicate by the hacker.
-> There is a need to keep the keys securely & protect it from all possible attacks, as the security of the data lies in the security of the key.
-> Need to change the keys regularly so as to maintain the security standards.
-> Need to manage how and to whom the keys are assigned.
-> Need to decide the granularity of the keys. for eg. whether to use a single key for all 10 files or one for each file.
-> there is also a need of physical security of the perimeter running the whole process.