Encryption is the answer to every cybersecurity issue. That message seems to flow from countless articles and blog posts on the Internet — so why isn’t everything, everywhere, encrypted? As it turns out, issues with encryption make some data best left unencrypted where it sits.

Now, there’s no denying that encryption is an enormously valuable tool and far more data should be encrypted than is currently being protected by the technique. Especially in certain regulatory frameworks, it can seem that full encryption is a forgone conclusion as a strategy.

But encryption should be given the same level of scrutiny as any other technique before deployment. In particular, a half-dozen factors should be taken into account when an organization is considering encryption. Knee-jerk reactions seldom provide the best results, and that’s as true for encryption in cybersecurity as in any other endeavor.

What has your organization decided to do about encryption? Are you encrypting everything, drawbacks aside? Or are you proceeding cautiously and encrypting in stages? Let us know in the comment section, below.

(Image: mrhighsky vis Adobe Stock)

Curtis Franklin Jr. is Senior Editor at Dark Reading. In this role he focuses on product and technology coverage for the publication. In addition he works on audio and video programming for Dark Reading and contributes to activities at Interop ITX, Black Hat, INsecurity, and … View Full Bio

Encryption can be critical to data security, but it’s not a universal panacea.

Encryption is the answer to every cybersecurity issue. That message seems to flow from countless articles and blog posts on the Internet — so why isn’t everything, everywhere, encrypted? As it turns out, issues with encryption make some data best left unencrypted where it sits.

Now, there’s no denying that encryption is an enormously valuable tool and far more data should be encrypted than is currently being protected by the technique. Especially in certain regulatory frameworks, it can seem that full encryption is a forgone conclusion as a strategy.

But encryption should be given the same level of scrutiny as any other technique before deployment. In particular, a half-dozen factors should be taken into account when an organization is considering encryption. Knee-jerk reactions seldom provide the best results, and that’s as true for encryption in cybersecurity as in any other endeavor.

What has your organization decided to do about encryption? Are you encrypting everything, drawbacks aside? Or are you proceeding cautiously and encrypting in stages? Let us know in the comment section, below.

(Image: mrhighsky vis Adobe Stock)

 

Curtis Franklin Jr. is Senior Editor at Dark Reading. In this role he focuses on product and technology coverage for the publication. In addition he works on audio and video programming for Dark Reading and contributes to activities at Interop ITX, Black Hat, INsecurity, and … View Full Bio