Carley Matsumoto

Period 2
September 17th 2015

Encryption and Decryption and how they play a role

in the privacy of computers
I chose to research the topic of cyber security and its various
classes because I am incredibly interested in learning about how we
are able to apply logic and problem solving skills into aspects of cyber
security such as encryption and decryption. After watching a movie
based upon how the computer was made and how English code
breakers broke the German code during WW2, I became interested in
encryption and encryption through the use of computers. I wanted to
know how computers accomplished exactly what humans have the
mental capacity to but on their own and at a greater speed. I wanted to
find out the background information behind hacking and how
encryption and decryption relate to that. Because I know very little
about the topic of cyber security and how people protect their cyber
information, I thought this was a great opportunity to research this
further and hopefully attain some skill in this subject. And hopefully the
outcome will be me attaining skill in this subject and also apply it to
real life (i.e. directing my career choices to careers centered around
cyber security)
Some questions I have decided to research to enlarge my
knowledge of cyber security and its various aspects are:
1. How does cyber security (Encryption and Decryption) allow
secure communication?
2. What are the various ways cyber security (Encryption and
Decryption) can decrease the amount of backdoors used?
To answer these questions and also increase knowledge of my
subject, I am going to be researching encryption and decryption. I will
be researching how these aspects play a role in hacks and computer
security. I will look into how encryption and decryption can promote
hacks and also protect computers from them. Another thing I will be
researching to answer my question is the vulnerability of computers
through aspects such as backdoors and the like. By researching this I
will be able to look into different ways backdoors allow access into
private systems. The last thing I will be researching is careers in cyber
security and how that plays a role secure data and communication.

Backdoors in the cyber world are considered a method of

bypassing private systems and creating an unauthorized access path
to a private computer and its information. Backdoors allow the hacker
to ideally remain undetected while accessing information from the
private computer. Backdoors make computers vulnerable and
susceptible hackers. When backdoors are used on computers, the
hacker can edit personal files, steal personal information, install
dangerous software, and in some cases control your entire computer.
These vulnerabilities can all be possible by use of backdoors. On large
websites, this can be a problem. Websites that store mass amounts of
personal information that have backdoors secretly installed on them
can endanger the personal information contained on the website. This
is why placing your information online and on computers can be
extremely problematic when backdoors are eminent. Backdoors access
these private systems in many ways. One way they access computers
while unauthorized is by use of passwords. The hackers first find
vulnerabilities in a computer system, most times those vulnerabilities
are unused accounts. Unused accounts usually have passwords that
are easy to crack. Once the computer is in the account, they change
the password to a different password that is difficult to crack. Then,
when the admin monitors network they will see that the account in
which the hacker modified the password does not appear to the admin.
Encryption and decryption play a large role in the cyber security
world. Encryption is the process of translating plaintext messages
and decryption is the exact opposite. Decryption is the process of
turning cipherext into a random and meaningless text (plaintext).
Cipherext is encrypted text that disallows people from getting into
computers by jumbling up text that allows personal information access
and data transfer. By decryption methods people are able to
hide/restrict access to data or personal info. To get past these jumbled
texts you have to encrypt the text to gain access. Hackers use
methods of encryption to get access to areas/information restricted to
them. Encryption and Decryption both allow hackers to hack and
endanger cyber security. But, encryption and decryption can also
protect computers. Administrators are able to decrypt text so hat
hackers have a hard time getting into the system and de-jumbling
the text. To gain access they must encrypt the text, which is typically
hard to do. By this information we see that encryption and decryption
promotes hackers and also protects computers from hackers. We also
see that backdoors and encryption and decryption are interrelated. To
get through backdoors and gain access to a system you have to use
encryption methods. To protect computers from backdoors you must
also use decryption methods to prevent access to a secure system.

Within certain careers, knowing and understanding computer

security is an important skill to know and practice. Cryptography, the
practice of hiding information (encryption and decryption), is
something that is used in many jobs and careers. One of those is a job
in the NSA. Although you require a lot of experience I cryptography,
this career does use cryptography to enhance protection of personal
communication and national information. By having extensive
knowledge of computer engineering, a job in the vulnerability
assurance section of the NSA is available. This job helps protect
information by use of Cryptography. This job secures information and
data by using cyber security methods. Having a job such as this one
makes about 97,000 per year. Another Job that involves cyber security
in protecting information is a cybersecurity analyst. Analysts protect
various websites and computers from hackers, malware, virus, and
various attacks. They use cybersecurity to protect personal information
and data. The average annual salary of a cybersecurity analyst is
about 91,000. One company that houses many analysts is the BLS
(Bureau of Labor Statistics). Cyber analysts carry out security
measures to protect a certain organizations networks and private
systems. Analysts who work for this company carry out work for many
companies that input their information online. In this company, the
analysts make about $86,170 per year. BLS mainly look for people who
can understand how to protect computers and can analyze multiple
cyber problems and hacks. Although both jobs in the NSA and BLS are
different they both focus on cybersecurity and protection of
information. Their main goals are protection of information and data on
computers.
The final questions I will be answering are:
1. How does cyber security (Encryption and Decryption) allow
secure communication?
2. What are the various ways cyber security (Encryption and
Decryption) can decrease the amount of backdoors used?
Based on the information I researched, I can now answer and
elaborate on my question. Encryption and decryption allow secure
communication and data possession by jumbling up text. Jumbling up
text disallows access to a restricted system, thus protecting the
computer. Hackers must de-jumble the text which I typically not an
easy job. Encryption jumbles up the text so that access to a restricted
system becomes hard and complicated to achieve. By using
Cybersecurity methods like encryption and decryption we can allow
secure communication by jumbling up text so that its hard to dejumble and hack into a system. This jumbling of text also decreases
the amount of backdoors accessed and used. The jumbling of text

decreases the amount of backdoors used and also allows secure

communication and data. To actually gain access to a backdoor you
must de-jumble the text that had been encrypted. This is typically a
hard task to complete. Because of this, backdoors are used less
frequently. Some new questions composed/created through this
process of researching is what are different methods of encryption
and decryption? in other words, how can I gain enough knowledge
about encryption and decryption to practice it myself? This is definitely
something I can research and inquire about to benefit my future and
potentially my career choices.
Because of the research I have conducted I now know how
encryption and decryption are related to backdoors and also how they
secure data and communication.
Bibliography
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2015.
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2015.
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Sept. 2015.
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"What Is Decryption?" What Is Decryption? Web. 18 Sept. 2015.
"What Is Database Encryption and Decryption? - Definition from
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Storm, Darlene. "MEDJACK: Hackers Hijacking Medical Devices to
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"Hacks, Backdoors, and Cyberwars - The Baffler." The Baffler. 25 Feb.
2015. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.