5 Advanced Encryption Standard
This chapter covers
- Using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to protect data confidentiality
- Selecting a safe AES operating mode for typical application development needs
- Using AES in Galois Counter Mode (GCM) to provide data integrity, authenticity, and confidentiality
Users expect applications to protect their data and keep it confidential according to the laws where they live. For example, European Union (EU) citizens expect applications to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law. Encryption is needed in most applications because most countries have laws governing data confidentiality, as a developer you must be able to use encryption to protect user data.
The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is the most widely used technology for ensuring data confidentiality. All the public cloud providers including Amazon, Google and Microsoft use the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) extensively to secure their APIs and services. Windows, Linux, and MacOS use AES for disk encryption. Foundational networking protocols such as Internet Protocol Security (IPsec), Transport Layer Security (TLS), Secure Shell (SSH) protocol, all leverage AES to deliver security.