A Practical Guide to Protecting Data from Hacking
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17977/um067v6i42026p1Keywords:
Cryptography, Data Protection, Number Theory, Post-Quantum CryptographyAbstract
In a world whereby cyber threats keep on intensifying both in frequency and sophistication, the security of digital data has been put on the top of the agenda of individuals, organizations, and governments. In this paper, I provide a detailed practical information on how to protect your data against being hacked and the basis of the mathematics underlying the cryptographic systems of today. We scan the key mathematical areas number theory, abstract algebra, chaos theory, information theory, and linear algebra that are the foundations of encryption algorithms, key exchange protocols, and digital signatures. The paper will look at the classical cryptographic strategies (RSA, ECC, AES) and the emerging post-quantum strategies (lattice-based cryptography, code-based cryptography, and isogeny-based cryptography). Experimental work measures performance and security metrics of chosen cryptographic implementations on various data types, such as text, image and network traffic. The findings indicate that although classical techniques continue to be useful against the traditional attacks, post-quantum algorithms like CRYSTALS-Kyber and Classic McEliece offers better resistance against a quantum-enabled attacker, but at the cost of both computational efficiency and key size. At the end of the paper, a set of practical recommendations to apply mathematics-based data protection strategies in practice are given.
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