Encryption

Encryption in flight (SSL)

• End-to-end encryption: data is encrypted before being sent and decrypted after is received
• Only the sender and the receiver should be able to decrypt/encrypt the messages
• SSL certificates help with encryption (HTTPS)
• Encryption in flight ensures no MITM (man in the middle attack) can happen

Server side encryption at rest

• Data is encrypted after being received by the server
• We should know that the server stores encrypted data. If the server is hijacked, the data can not be retrieved in a readable way
• Data is decrypted before being sent back to the client
• The encryption/decryption key must be managed somewhere and server must have access to it

Client side encryption

• Data is encrypted by the client, the server should never be able to decrypt it
• Data will be decrypted by a receiving client
• We can use Envelope Encryption to achieve client side encryption