AES Encryption is so Good Even the NSA Can’t Crack it

Gizmodo‘s done a nice piece talking about AES encryption on mobile devices like the iPhone and BlackBerry. Despite security issues after the initial launch, Apple improved the security of their devices, though these improvements have come too late for people who own anything older than an iPhone 4S or iPad 3. Essentially, they have integrated AES encryption into both the software AND hardware of their new devices, making them nearly impossible to crack. In fact, AES encryption was not only approved for use by the US Government, it’s even received the National Security Agency’s stamp of approval (which is saying something, because those guys don’t mess around). It is the encryption algorithm used by banks, major online retailers and FilesDIRECT. To quote MITs Technology Review:

“At the heart of Apple’s security architecture is the Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm (AES), a data-scrambling system published in 1998 and adopted as a U.S. government standard in 2001. After more than a decade of exhaustive analysis, AES is widely regarded as unbreakable. The algorithm is so strong that no computer imaginable for the foreseeable future—even a quantum computer—would be able to crack a truly random 256-bit AES key. TheNational Security Agency has approved AES-256 for storing top-secret data.”

Some argue that these encryption technologies give criminals a leg up against law enforcement, but others believe that personal privacy is an important right – one that is increasingly valuable as we grow increasingly connected digitally. What do you think? Tell us in the comments!

Tags: AES, encryption, iPhone, secure file transfer, security, technology