What are protocols? They are methods that transform data in order to make it indecipherable to intruders who access it in an unauthorized manner. These methods or standards can be of two types.
Data encryption.
Data encapsulation (hiding).
Encryption , also called ciphering , consists of a method that transforms data into a sequence of characters that is impossible to decipher (it is the reverse process), ensuring that the data will only be available to those who have the key to decrypt (decrypt).
Encryption is a procedure consisting of an encryption method and one or more decryption keys . The method can range from simple substitution to complicated mathematical algorithms.
An example of encryption, using a simple old method, called the Caesar method, devised by Julius Caesar is:
Alphabet to b c d and F g h Yo j k l m n ñ either p q r s t or v w x and z
Encryption d and F g h Yo j k l m n ñ either p q r s t or v w x and z to b c
For example, if a message like this were sent, “a meteorite will pass by,” the encrypted message would be “sdvdud xp ohwhrulwr.” In this system, the method for replacing a character is “shifting left in the alphabet.” The key is the number of characters shifted, in this case “3.” The key is what the recipient needs to decipher the message.
The concept of data encapsulation , to understand its meaning we would have to understand the concepts of Object and Class . In computing, a Class is the representation of a WHOLE that is being studied (it can be a physical or abstract object), for which it is divided into several small parts that are independent of each other. The abstract representation of the WHOLE is the CLASS , the OBJECT is a simple element that belongs to the class, no matter how complex it may be. In summary, the class is the representation of a set of similar objects . In order to understand these concepts, let us compare as an example a company that is divided into several departments. The WHOLE being studied is the company (root class) , in turn the root class is subdivided into several sub classes that would be the departments such as finance, production, purchasing, sales, etc. Each class (such as the sales department) is made up of smaller parts, which are people . People are the objects that make up the classes, since they have properties that identify them and differentiate them from each other (name, age, profession, marital status, etc.). Classes have properties and methods that define the STATE of the objects that constitute them and therefore also that of the classes. The state of an object (of a person) at a given time, in our example, would be the remuneration to be paid ; the state at class level would be the total amount to be paid by department; the state of the root class (The Whole) would be the total amount to be paid at the Company level. The method used by the class to determine the state is some remuneration program that calculates the salaries to be paid.
The concept of encapsulation is the hiding of an object's data, that is, hiding the attributes and methods of the class that contains them, so that only those who are authorized to chinese overseas british database have access to modify or read the object's data are allowed to have access to them. Encapsulation is an isolation mechanism for protection purposes, therefore, from a computing point of view, the class is an important element in information security, since, through a key, it is possible to have control of user access to the hidden data contained in the CLASS .
For encapsulation, 3 access levels have been defined:
Public: Everyone who belongs to the root class can access the attributes and methods of the class. In our example, all employees of the company could see the staff data that has been defined as public.
Protected: Data is accessible only to those belonging to a given class and all subclasses derived from it. In our example, only sales department staff would be able to access data in the sales class.
Private: Only those who belong to the class have access to the data, not even subclasses derived from it. This is the highest level of protection.
In a network environment, encapsulation is the concealment of the data to be transported from a source point to a destination point, by means of an application (protocol) that transforms the data into data packets and wraps them in a tunnel, hiding them from intruders trying to access them. At the destination point, there is an application that decapsulates the packets and transforms them so that they can be seen.
Some of the main protocols existing in Internet networks are:
TCP/IP: This is the main Internet protocol. It consists of a set of protocols whose function is to transmit data from one point in the network to another point in the network. This protocol ensures that the transported data arrives at the destination point accurately. In the event of some type of insurmountable problem, it generates a type of communication error. Some of the protocols in this TCP/IP family are:
ARP: Protocol used to find a specific IP.
FTP: Data Transfer Protocol.
HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol. This is the protocol used to access web pages.
POP: It is a protocol for obtaining messages from an email hosted on a remote server.
SMPT: It is the protocol of a network that transmits emails to the different servers on the network.
HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the protocol for transferring information between the user's browser and the server where a particular web page is located. This protocol is insecure since it can be easily accessed by intruders. Given the above, an additional layer of protection has been added, making it safe for data transport. The new layer has been identified with the letter S, which is why the protocol is now called HTTPS .
WiFi: These are protocols designed for domestic wireless networks. There are 3 protocols for this purpose, which are similar, but have their differences. These are:
WPE: It is the security protocol designed to provide security and privacy to wireless networks, since these types of networks can be easily intercepted by intruders, but they have security flaws that have not been solved.
WPA: It is the continuation of the WPE protocol, in which new security mechanisms have been implemented. Over time, some vulnerabilities have been detected.
WPA2: This is WPA with the addition of new security improvements.
