Blowfish Encryption Algorithm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Blowfish Encryption Algorithm - Essay Example Customers pay via credit cards for the purchased books that are delivered to them. In this scenario, any sort of security breach may inject an SQL injection or cross site scripting attack on the website can affect the business as well as customer confidence. Therefore, securing the systems as well as data communication on the web is essential to protect. This also implies to personal or customer data that is maintained and managed by the organization. For instance, E- commerce based organizations stores information of their customer related to credit card numbers, passwords, telephone numbers, address, bank details etc. It is the responsibility of the organization to protect and secure data privacy. However, there is not a single law that states how to handle customer information. For this reason, organizations sell or trade customer information with business partners and even to third parties. Likewise, sometimes the sole purpose of this personal data exchange is funds. Although, ev ery online organization has a privacy policy which states how they will handle and secure customer data but at the same time there is no verification criteria. In the following sections, we will discuss the protection of highly sensitive data by the best possible control i.e. encryption algorithms. Likewise, we will precisely discuss blowfish encryption algorithm and its integration with applications that are involved in handling customer highly sensitive data. Blowfish Encryption Algorithm As per computer desktop encyclopedia Blowfish encryption algorithm is defined as â€Å"A secret key cryptography method that uses a variable length key from 32 to 448 bits long. It uses the block cipher method, which breaks the text into 64-bit blocks before encrypting them. Written by Bruce Schneier, as a free replacement for DES or IDEA, it is considered very fast and secure† and as per network dictionary, it is defined as â€Å"Blow?sh is an encryption algorithm that can be used as a r eplacement for the DES or IDEA algorithms. It is a symmetric (that is, a secret or private key) block cipher that uses a variable-length key, from 32 bits to 448 bits, making it useful for both domestic and exportable use†. Blowfish is an encryption algorithm that was invented by Bruce Schneier in 1993 (Pachghare, n.d). It is constructed on a variable length key ranging from 32 buts to 448 bits that is considered to be perfect for both local and international use along with a solid encryption algorithm. After its recognition to be relatively solid encryption algorithm, it is gradually gaining acceptance. Some of the core features of blowfish algorithm include (Pachghare, n.d): Blowfish has a block cipher of block consisted of 64 bit The length of the key can be up to 448 bits On 32 bit microprocessor architecture, data encryption is supported at a rate of 18 clock cycles on every byte that is much quicker than DES and IDEA encryption. It is still free to use and is not patente d Memory requirements for blowfish are less than 5 kilobytes of memory. The semantics are simplified and is relatively easy to deploy. The design requirements for a blowfish encryption algorithm incorporates robust, simple to code, compact, easily modifiable and flat key space features (Anderson. n.d ). Likewise, flat key space facilitates random strings to be considered as a possible key from a required length. Moreover, it deploys data in massive byte