If you have been involved in the technology field for a considerable period of time, you are likely to have encountered the concept of encryption. It is important to understand that encryption is one of the easiest ways to protect your devices and data, especially against data thieves, hackers, and “big brother.”

If you are unsure about encryption, or you do not know if it is for you, then this post will go through the benefits of using it, especially for mobile gaming and browsing.

What is encryption?

In simple terms, encryption is a protective technology that scrambles all of your data and makes it unreadable. The only way to make the data readable again is to use an encryption key, which is owned by the person who did the encryption.

Encryption is so effective that some of the strongest forms of it cannot be cracked even by the likes of Apple, the FBI, and other high-level organizations. While you do not need encryption software that is that powerful, it does show how effective it is.

Types of encryption

The three main types of mobile encryption you should be aware of are whole-phone encryption, data and app encryption, and public Wi-Fi encryption.

Whole-phone encryption

Whole-phone encryption is self-explanatory. It means having your entire device and all of its contents encrypted. Whole-phone encryption is perfect if you lose your phone, or it is stolen.

While this is an ideal level of protection for many, it is important to note that this amount of encryption can slow your device down, especially if it is older.

Data & app encryption

A level down from whole-phone encryption is encrypting your files and apps. Considering how many apps we use that require us to put in a ton of personal data, it is critical to know that this data cannot be stolen.

Public Wi-Fi

Finally, you should always use a VPN (a form of encryption) when using public Wi-Fi. This is due to many cafés, restaurants, and so on not having the best security on their free networks. It is fairly easy to gain access to them without a password if you know what you are doing, and just as easy to gain access to the devices connected to the public network.

While having a VPN will not make it impossible for your device to be accessed, it will make it much, much harder for hackers to crack it, so it will hopefully deter them from even trying.

Benefits of encryption

There are multiple benefits to using encryption software on your phone. Still, the four main ones are protecting your privacy, stopping data theft, preventing data thieves from controlling your life, and the simplicity of using encryption software compared with other methods.

Privacy

Online privacy has been endlessly debated and discussed over the past few years. More and more people are becoming aware of the fact that companies are not only storing our data, but also sharing and selling it.

Using a VPN and encryption ensures that companies cannot access your private data or use it for anything you have not given permission for.

Your data is worth stealing

One mistake that so many people make is thinking that their data is not worth stealing. Whether you are a college student, a stay-at-home parent, or someone who has recently retired, your data is valuable to someone.

What this means is that regardless of where you are or what you are doing, there is always a chance that a data thief will try to steal your data. You always need to have a layer of protection in place in the event of an attempted breach.

Thieves can control your life

When we think about our smartphones getting stolen, we tend to think about how inconvenient, annoying, and upsetting it is that we have lost tons of photos or music, or something similar.

However, many of us do not process what the thief now has access to. They have access to your email, social media, passwords, and contact lists. Depending on how malicious the thief is, or depending on what they find, they can easily use the information to blackmail you.

While this sounds far-fetched and unlikely, the scam of sending emails or messages saying that someone has sensitive information about you and your family is well-known. If someone has your actual device, it can become a very real threat.

It is easy & effective

Finally, this can either be viewed as a benefit or a feature, but encryption technology is incredibly easy to use and highly effective. The most work you need to do is to let the encryption software run and then remember to store your key.

For what it does, encryption is cheap and so easy to use across all devices and types of data you have in your office and at home.