Cloud computing mainly aims at providing fast, easy-to-use computing and data storage services at a low cost. Cloud environment does have its cons as well i.e. data confidentiality can be compromised. This is where cryptography is needed.
The position of the main tool to enhance the security of cloud computing is occupied by cryptography. It is a mathematical technique that provides security to the stored or transmitted data by encrypting it so that the data can only be understood by intended recipients. To give a clearer picture of the topic one must first understand the basic differences between encryption and cryptography.
What makes encryption different from cryptography?
Basically, Encryption encodes a message so that only authorized parties may access it. It is believed to be the major application of cryptography and simply uses algorithms to encrypt data and a secret key to decrypt it. It is essentially mathematical and algorithmic in nature. Its main purpose is to conceal data by translating it into code. The various types of encryptions include symmetric and asymmetric encryption. Encryption provides security to data, maintains integrity, protects privacy, protects data across devices, etc. In the end, it is extremely useful in protecting modern data such as digital signatures and sensitive electronic data such as emails and passwords.
Cryptography on the other hand is the study of encryption or similar methods. Its primary concern is to provide processes to provide protection to data and its communication using encryption and further processes. Cryptography enables a user to store sensitive information or transmit it across insecure networks so that it cannot be read or accessed by anyone except the intended recipient. Its basic attributes include authentication, nonrepudiation, confidentiality and integrity. To sum up, cryptography is the study of techniques such as encryption in order to secure the data and its transfer. It is considered as a path of creating codes using techniques of encryption and decryption. It provides methods of protecting data through encryption and its further processes. It pertains to techniques and technologies. Its goal is to apply complex mathematics and logic to design strong encryption methods. Cryptography is divided into 2 categories: symmetric key cryptography and asymmetric key cryptography. Cryptographic techniques like MAC and digital signatures help in protecting information against spoofing and forgeries. The concept of shared and non-shared keys is present. It is useful in e-commerce, military communications, chip-based card payments, digital currencies, time stamping, etc.
The working of the two-step cryptography technique
In a recent study published in KeAi’s International Journal of Intelligent Networks, the two-step cryptography technique has been described as the first to combine genetic technology with mathematical techniques. The study included a team of researchers from India and Yemen describing a novel. According to the paper’s authors, a complex cryptographic environment with high security and flexibility is generated which in turn could change the area of data confidentiality.
According to Fursan Thabit, the paper’s corresponding author from India there are some existing famous ciphers that use the Feistel structure for encryption and decryption whereas others use the Network SP (Substitution-Permutation). A logical-mathematical function based on a combination of the two is used by the first level of encryption. An improvement in the complexity of the encryption and an increase in energy efficiency is observed due to the reduction of the number of encryption rounds required.
According to the researchers, structures of genetics techniques based on the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology (CDMB) are the inspiration for the second layer of encryption. It imitates the natural processes of genetic coding (translation from binary to DNA bases), transcription (regeneration from DNA to mRNA), and translation (regeneration from mRNA to protein).
Thabit also conveys that the venture is the first to mix the DNA, RNA and genetics techniques for a cryptographic purpose. The act of combining the technique of genetic encryption with mathematics to generate a complex key is the first of its kind as well.
The new algorithm is evaluated for its robustness
The researchers conducted the evaluation of the robustness of their new algorithm by measuring encryption time, decryption time, throughput and the length of the cipher-text produced. A comparison with other genetic encryption techniques and existing symmetric key encryption techniques revealed that their proposed algorithm is very flexible along with high-security strength. Time consumption has been observed to be less as compared to other techniques.
Computational and processing strength complexity were perceived to be decreased due to the algorithm’s distinct structure which included 2 layers of encryption with 4 layers of coding
Thabit explained that pure composition meant each tour required only simplistic math and a genetics simulation process.
It has also been mentioned that researchers have found proposed encryption systems safe for brute force, encrypted text only, and differential cryptanalysis attacks. It has been experimented on multiple data, including whitespace and distinct characters and it meets the Integrity’s principle (Confidentiality, Data integrity, Availability).
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