Welcome to data encryption! After securing your network, the next critical layer is protecting your data itself. Encryption is the process of scrambling data so it can only be read by someone with the right key.
Even if someone bypasses your other defenses, encrypted data remains secure.
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Think about your personal data - bank account numbers, passwords, private messages. What would happen if this information was stolen but completely unreadable to the thief?
AWS offers two main types of data protection: encryption in transit and encryption at rest.
Encryption in transit (or in flight) protects your data as it moves between your computer and AWS, or between different AWS services. This is typically done using Transport Layer Security (TLS).
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When you see https:// in your browser, what does the 's' stand for?
Encryption at rest protects your data while it is stored on a disk in an AWS data center. Many AWS services, like S3 and EBS, offer simple ways to enable encryption at rest for your data.
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Why is it important to encrypt data even when it's just sitting on a server?
The encryption and decryption processes are managed by cryptographic keys. Managing these keys is a critical security function. AWS provides a service called AWS Key Management Service (KMS) to help you create and control your encryption keys.
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Why is it important to keep your encryption keys secure?
With KMS, you can choose between AWS-managed keys and customer-managed keys. With AWS-managed keys, KMS handles almost everything for you, making it very easy to encrypt your data. This is the best approach for most use cases.
