What is encryption?
Encryption is the scrambling of information for transmission back and forth between two points. When you send out a letter to your friend, you communicate in a language that both of you understand. Since, your language is understood by thousands of other people also, if someone else gets hold of your letter, he will not have any problem in understanding its contents. If you do not want anyone other than to whom this letter is intended, you must use a secret language or you must substitute each alphabet in your letter for some other alphabet, which only two of you will understand. Using a secret language or substituting one alphabet or word for another is called encryption and your letter is said to be encoded. To decode your letter, the receiver must have the same key that you used for encoding. To any other person who does not have this key, the message in the letter will not make any sense and will be garbage. Computers also use the same principle. The browser in your computer uses a
Encryption is a means of protecting transmitted data to prevent anyone but the intended recipient from comprehending the original data. To protect the data, a mathematical algorithm converts the data into a sequence that is incomprehensible unless decrypted. In WLANs, encryption plays a significant role in the security of data traversing the network. The encryption methods are very important to prevent attacks and provide safe transmissions of data. Several methods of encryption exist to secure wireless networks, although some provide stronger protection than others.
