While we should all be careful to reference Wikipedia (the information there is often inaccurate), the definition of encryption is pretty good :

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encryption

…encryption is the process of transforming information (referred to as plaintext) using an algorithm (called cipher) to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key

A simple example?

A very simple example is something called a substitution cipher. With a substitution cipher the encrypting party defines a key that tells the receiving party what the symbols translate into (the symbols can be letters, number or just shapes). As an example lets take the entire English alphabet and number every letter  from 1 to 26 – “A” is 1, “B” is 2, and so on. With this substitution cipher we would write “hello” as “8 5 12 12 15″. Obviously a substitution cipher like that is very easy to break but it does illustrate a basic type of encryption.

What about modern encryption?

Modern encryption algorithms are exceptionally complex. The industry standard for encryption is now AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and is in use all over the world. While no encryption is truly uncrackable, AES encryption is considered “strong” encryption and is virtually impossible to crack using any known method. Again, Wikipedia offers an accurate description of AES encryption at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Encryption_Standard if you’re interested (beware, it’s a bit eye-crossing!).

Should you use encryption?

YES! Though it might sound like you need a PhD in mathematics to use encryption effectively, you don’t. There are hundreds of encryption programs available that perform various functions from drive encryption to file or email encryption. If you’re looking for an easy-to-use encryption program that offers strong encryption, look no further. K Software recently released RightClickEncrypt and we think it is one of the easiest encryption programs on the market.

RightClickEncrypt implements the AES encryption algorithm mentioned above for very high security so you’re not sacrificing security for ease of use. It integrates into Windows explorer so you only need to right-click on the files or folders you want to encrypt to make it work. It gathers, compresses (shrinks) and encrypts any files or folders you select into a single .EXE file that you can then copy to CD/DVD/flash drive or upload to a website for off-site backup purposes. You don’t have to have RightClickEncrypt installed to decrypt the files – all you have to do is double-click the .EXE file, type in the password and tell RCE where to put the decrypted files.

Since a picture is worth 1000 words :

RightClickEncrypt Screenshot

RightClickEncrypt is offered as try-before-you-buy software so you can test it before purchasing. RightClickEncrypt is available right now for $9.99 at http://www.rightclickencrypt.com