Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
– is a symmetric block encryption algorithm that can encrypt and decrypt them as needed.

It converts the data to an unreadable form, i.e. encrypted text, and the reverse decryption process converts the data in the opposite order.

The cryptographic key has a length of 128, 192, 256 bits. This allows you to store data in encrypted blocks of 128 bits.

History of creation

It is known that on October 12, 1997, NIST announced the start of a competition that was supposed to promote the emergence of a new encryption method. Each contender had to combine three conditions: a block cipher, with a block length of 128 bits and keys of 128, 192, and 256 bits.

The winner was selected in three stages.

Thus, on August 20, 1998, a list of 15 candidates for the main prize was announced during the 1st AES conference.

The second AES conference was held in August 1999, where the previous list was reduced to 5 candidates: MARS, RC6, Serpent, Twofish, Rijndael.

A year later, the judges gathered at the 3rd conference in New York, where they heard presentations from the three superfinalists. After that, on October 2, 2000, the algorithm developed by D. Damon and W. Ridgeman (Belgian cryptographers) was declared the winner. At the same time, the procedure for its standardization began and on May 26, 2002, AES was approved as a standard.

Security functions and AES features:

• security – this algorithm is able to withstand cyberattacks better than other known encryption methods;
• cost – used by users free of charge and efficiently operates on the basis of computing and RAM;
• Implementation – this algorithm is easy to use, for example, in hardware and software.

Keys for AES encryption:

AES generally consists of 3 keys: AES-128, AES-192, AES-256. All data is encrypted and decrypted in 128-bit blocks using cryptographic keys of 128, 192, 256 bits.

There are different numbers of encryption rounds for these keys:

• for 128-bit – 10;

• for 192-bit – 12 rounds;
• for 256-bit – 14 rounds.

Since the AES algorithm is symmetric, it means that the same key is used for encryption and decryption, so both the sender and the recipient understand that they are using the same key.

After evaluating the algorithm, it was determined that it is resistant to these types of cryptanalytic attacks:

• there are no weak keys in the algorithm, so it is impossible to pick it using interrelated keys;
• differential analysis is not applied to it;
• the algorithm is not subject to attacks using linear cryptanalysis and cut differentials.

Using AES

Commercial and non-commercial, private and public organizations can use AES free of charge. In addition, there are other areas where this encryption algorithm will be extremely useful.

Namely, virtual private networks, i.e. VPNs usually use the AES algorithm, which can be used to:

• archive and tool compression;
• encrypt the contents of disks or partitions;

In addition, it is known that the password master uses 256-bit encryption to protect users’ personal data.

Video game developers and players also use AES encryption to protect their servers from hackers.

To protect users’ personal data, a number of messengers, such as WhatsApp, also use AES encryption.

Thus, due to the continuous development of technology, the prevalence of cyberattacks is constantly growing. Currently, there is no known way to decrypt AES, making it the perfect tool to protect your information and reduce the risk of hacking.