With today’s digital advancement, it is inevitable to encounter challenges when it comes to your files’ security. For companies, protecting sensitive data and personal information of both employees and customers should be their utmost priority. So what are the specific tools you need to ensure their data are protected?

Fortunately, today’s digital advancement also brings about many advantages in providing the solutions you need. In this case, one of the best ways to protect your files is by encrypting them. When you encrypt your files, you can easily prevent unauthorized data access, file tampering, and data loss. In addition to that, you can read this article to learn what encryption is about.

According to a survey of Statista, 52% of respondents encrypt employee or human resources data within their enterprises. Through the process of encryption, your data is concealed by translating them into codes to keep them hidden from unauthorized users. There are several file encryption methods you can use to do this. 

On that note, if you have finally decided to invest in an encryption software, checking its features should be the first thing you must consider. With that said, this article will provide some of encryption software’s features to make things easier for you. Here are 5 key features of encryption software that you should be aware of.

1. Encryption algorithm

When selecting an encryption software, you must look into its algorithms to determine how your data will be secured or protected. For starters, an encryption algorithm transforms plain text into the encrypted text to prevent hackers from quickly accessing them. 

However, since not all codes or algorithms are equal, some perform faster than the others. To help you better, here are 5 common encryption algorithms that are most undoubtedly unbreakable:

• Triple DES – it is a symmetric key method for data encryption. It uses the same key to encipher and decipher messages.

• RSA – it uses an asymmetric method of encrypting data. In other words, it uses multiple keys for encrypting and decrypting data. These keys are commonly known as “public key” and “private key”.

• Blowfish – it is a symmetric but general-purpose algorithm. It is highly prevalent in cryptographic software because of its speed, flexibility, and competitiveness, among other encryption algorithms.

• Twofish – it is a brainchild of Blowfish. It is also flexible and uses a symmetric encryption method. However, Twofish encrypts data of up to 256-bit, while its predecessor only encrypts data of up to 64-bit.

• AES – also a symmetric encryption algorithm, it became popular because of its easy implementation. Compared to other competitors, it has a more complex algorithm and is considered to be more effective.

2. Filename encryption

For some, encrypting data, such as their files’ content, is already enough to ensure its security. However, if you only encrypt the actual data stored, unauthorized users may still have access to view file names, archives, and the like.

Besides, other people may derive information from having access to your file names. And for someone who wants to protect sensitive company files and other personal data, this can be quite worrisome.

For this reason, it is crucial that your encryption software has a feature that lets you encrypt file names. This feature should prevent other people from seeing your file name and require them with a key or password before accessing it. If you want an extra layer of protection to your files, the file name encryption feature can undoubtedly come in handy.

On a different note, you might want to check out this article about the various human errors that impact data security.

3. Secure deletion

As much as you want to protect all the information from your current files, you might also want to protect the data from the files that you want to discard. Since this information may contain sensitive or relevant content to your other files, it is vital to ensure their protection up to the deletion process.

Hence, when selecting an encryption software, consider looking for a secure deletion feature that lets you securely delete files and wipe free space. Remember that with secure deletion, you can ensure that your files can no longer be restored or retrieved. This way, sensitive data is highly protected and prevents outsiders from accessing these discarded files. Hence, your file management software should have tight security features.

4. Two-factor authentication

Passwords are extremely valuable, most especially when you are protecting confidential information or projects. These days, however, hackers are more persistent and can obtain passwords quickly. But, what a better way to protect data more effectively than the implementation of a two-factor authentication functionality?

As of June 2019, a study from Statista shows that 62% of security-aware IT professionals in 

North America stated that their company uses two-factor authentication to verify their identity. On the other hand, 52% use a single-on.

This feature should be one of the top things you should consider before committing to a specific encryption software. Adding an extra layer of security not only strengthens security, but it also reduces the risk of cyber breaches to help you build secure online relationships. This can help your company become more credible; hence, it allows you to create a trustworthy reputation among your customers.

5. Key sharing

Typically, employees share relevant and work-related information with each other. However, worrying about the data’s security during the sharing process is inevitable. Since this raises concern about sharing secured files, it is incredibly vital for an encryption software to have a feature that lets you share and receive files more securely.

With the key sharing feature, you can share files without the need to share passwords. Instead, you can share file keys to specific colleagues to give them access to particular files. Then, they can easily browse or edit the shared file. Even more so, it should allow you to unshare the file to remove the person’s access quickly.

In addition, one thing that you must bear in mind when it comes to file sharing is to avoid self-decrypting files. Often, these are self-contained executable files. However, since these contain strongly encrypted information, screening for anti-virus is almost impossible. To learn more, you can read this article about why you should avoid self-decrypting files.

Why is encryption software a need, and what is next?

The purpose of encryption software does not only focus on ensuring highly secured data. It also allows you to determine the threats that you might encounter beforehand and help you avoid them in the long run. The best file encryption software should have the ability to meet all of your requirements and provide additional functionalities that can come in handy.

How do you encrypt a file system? This is one of the questions that should leave your mind once you find the right encryption software. Aside from that, you can consider asking these questions when looking for the perfect tool:

• Does it match the threats you want to prevent?

• Does it require technical support?

• Is it compatible with the current applications you are using?

• At what layers do you want to encrypt data?

• Can it recover encrypted data when keys are lost?

Selecting an encryption software can be complicated at first. However, it will turn out incredibly beneficial for you in the long run. If you are looking for an example of where to start, you can explore AxCrypt.