HERE’S HOW TO ENABLE AES ENCRYPTION TO ENABLE AES (ADVANCED ENCRYPTION STANDARD) ENCRYPTION, THE METHOD DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO ENCRYPT (E.G., A FILE, A FOLDER, A DATABASE, AN ENTIRE DRIVE, OR IN A PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE).HERE IS A GUIDE ON HOW TO ENABLE AES ENCRYPTION ACROSS THE MOST COMMON USE CASES:1. ENCRYPTING ENTIRE DRIVES (WINDOWS & MAC)IF YOU WANT TO SECURE ALL DATA ON A HARD DRIVE OR USB STICK USING AES (TYPICALLY AES-256): * WINDOWS (BITLOCKER – PRO/ENTERPRISE EDITIONS): * OPEN FILE EXPLORER AND CLICK ON THIS PC. * RIGHT-CLICK THE DRIVE YOU WANT TO ENCRYPT AND SELECT TURN ON BITLOCKER. * CHOOSE HOW YOU WANT TO UNLOCK YOUR DRIVE (E.G., USE A PASSWORD). * SAVE YOUR RECOVERY KEY (PRINT IT, SAVE TO A MICROSOFT ACCOUNT, OR SAVE TO A FILE). * CHOOSE WHETHER TO ENCRYPT THE USED SPACE ONLY (FASTER) OR THE ENTIRE DRIVE. * SELECT THE ENCRYPTION MODE (COMPATIBLE MODE USES AES-CBC; NEW ENCRYPTION MODE USES XTS-AES 256-BIT). * CLICK START ENCRYPTING. * MACOS (FILEVAULT): * OPEN SYSTEM SETTINGS (OR SYSTEM PREFERENCES). * GO TO PRIVACY & SECURITY, THEN CLICK FILEVAULT. * CLICK TURN ON (MACOS USES XTS-AES 128 OR 256 ENCRYPTION BY DEFAULT FOR THE STARTUP DISK). * CHOOSE HOW TO UNLOCK YOUR DISK (VIA YOUR ICLOUD ACCOUNT OR A RECOVERY KEY).2. ENCRYPTING FILES AND FOLDERS (CROSS-PLATFORM)IF YOU WANT TO ENCRYPT SPECIFIC FILES OR CREATE A SECURE, PASSWORD-PROTECTED VAULT: * USING 7-ZIP (FREE & OPEN SOURCE): * DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL 7-ZIP. * RIGHT-CLICK THE FILE OR FOLDER YOU WANT TO ENCRYPT -> 7-ZIP -> ADD TO ARCHIVE… * IN THE ARCHIVE SETTINGS WINDOW, LOOK FOR THE ENCRYPTION SECTION. * SET THE ENCRYPTION METHOD TO AES-256. * ENTER AND CONFIRM A STRONG PASSWORD. (TIP: CHECK “ENCRYPT FILE NAMES” IF YOU WANT TO HIDE THE NAMES OF THE FILES INSIDE THE ARCHIVE). * CLICK OK TO GENERATE THE ENCRYPTED .ZIP OR .7Z FILE.3. IMPLEMENTING AES IN PROGRAMMING (E.G., PYTHON)IF YOU ARE A DEVELOPER LOOKING TO ENABLE AES ENCRYPTION IN YOUR SOFTWARE, HERE IS A QUICK EXAMPLE USING PYTHON’S CRYPTOGRAPHY LIBRARY (USING AES-GCM, WHICH PROVIDES BOTH CONFIDENTIALITY AND INTEGRITY):FROM CRYPTOGRAPHY.HAZMAT.PRIMITIVES.CIPHERS.AEAD IMPORT AESGCMIMPORT OS# 1. GENERATE A SECURE 256-BIT (32-BYTE) KEYKEY = AESGCM.GENERATE_KEY(BIT_LENGTH=256)AESGCM = AESGCM(KEY)# 2. GENERATE A UNIQUE 12-BYTE NONCE (NUMBER USED ONCE)NONCE = OS.URANDOM(12)# 3. ENCRYPT DATADATA = B”CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION HERE”CIPHERTEXT = AESGCM.ENCRYPT(NONCE, DATA, ASSOCIATED_DATA=NONE)# 4. DECRYPT DATAPLAINTEXT = AESGCM.DECRYPT(NONCE, CIPHERTEXT, ASSOCIATED_DATA=NONE)PRINT(PLAINTEXT.DECODE())đź’ˇ BEST PRACTICES FOR AES ENCRYPTION * KEY LENGTH: ALWAYS OPT FOR AES-256 OVER AES-128 OR AES-192 FOR MAXIMUM SECURITY AGAINST BRUTE-FORCE ATTACKS. * PASSWORD STRENGTH: IF YOUR AES ENCRYPTION RELIES ON A PASSWORD (LIKE IN 7-ZIP), USE A LONG, RANDOM PASSPHRASE OR PASSWORD MANAGER. * MODE OF OPERATION: IF BUILDING A CUSTOM APP, AVOID OUTDATED MODES LIKE ECB. USE SECURE MODES LIKE GCM (GALOIS/COUNTER MODE) OR CBC (CIPHER BLOCK CHAINING) WITH PROPER INITIALIZATION VECTORS (IV).
