Academy for LoRaWAN®

IoT devices must be as secure as possible. This could involve protecting any sensitive data that that will be transmitted via the Internet of Things so that no one else can see it, or protecting the connection between your network and your devices to ensure that your devices cannot be hijacked or spoofed by third parties.  Given that securely encrypting messages is vital in protecting your data transmissions, it is important to understand encryption at least at a conceptual level.

So, what, exactly, is “encryption”? Encryption is a form of cryptography that enables users to hide information from others using a complex algorithm called a cipher. Ciphers convert normal data, often referred to as plaintext, into a series of seemingly random characters that are unreadable, unless you have a special decryption key.

The two most widely used encryption methods are public key (asymmetric) encryption and private key (symmetric) encryption.

Both methods allow users to encrypt data to hide it from others and then decrypt it to access the original plaintext. The difference is how the keys that do the encryption and decryption are handled.

For a great introduction to the concept of encryption, read How Does Encryption Work, and Is It Really Safe? by Gavin Phillips. (8-minute read).