What is Encryption? Also Explained: Tor Network & DeepOnion

in cryptocurrency •  7 years ago  (edited)

Screen Shot 2018-01-08 at 9_Fotor.jpg

Today I want to go over a concept that is at the very core of cryptocurrency and I want to show you why it’s so important.

So let’s take a look at encryption and how it is changing.

You’ve probably performed tasks that involved encryption without even realizing it.
All sorts of mediums these days use encryption like: WhatsApp, the messaging application claims to offer end-to-end encryption, and when you’re browsing the web the HTTPS protocol encrypts the data being sent from the server to your web browser.

Definition:

The very basic idea of encryption is to conceal data by shuffling it about and randomizing it in such a way that it becomes extremely obscured. With encryption comes the need for an encryption key. You can liken this key to the Rosetta Stone and how that worked to decipher Egyptian Hieroglyphics.

This is when we can start seeing these encryption practices in cryptocurrency today.

You may be familiar with the phrases public and private keys. In order to send or receive crypto coins to and from a wallet, you’ll need to know either your public or private key. Here’s the difference between the two and it is very important that you can recognize and understand the weight of this. Public keys are what enable you or anyone to deposit coins into a wallet, that’s it.

Private keys are what allow coins to be withdrawn from a wallet. So unless you want others to have the ability to withdraw coins from your wallet, you’d better keep your private keys private.

Encryption is very important for cryptocurrency because it is what keeps your coins from being copied and stolen. Encryption is what keeps your coins, your coins.

The beauty of cryptocurrency is that it allows you to be in control of your money, this means that it is now your responsibility to follow safe practices when it comes to storing and transferring your cryptos.

Now that you’ve got a little refresher on what encryption is and why it is at the core of cryptocurrency, let’s take a look at how encryption is being applied in new ways.

There’s a software that uses a certain type of encryption, it’s called Tor.
The name represents the original project name and the type of encryption used, “The Onion Router”.
Tor uses what’s called onion routing, and this is the type of encryption that Bitcoin is looking into to bolster it’s anonymity.

Onion routing is an encrypted form of communicating data. For crypto it would be used for communicating transactions.
Basically, it’s a network of nodes that work to send data from point A to point B.
Each node only knows where the data came from immediately preceding it, and where it is sending the data immediately after it.
So let’s say there are 5 nodes, node #1 only knows that you’ve sent it data and that it’s then required to send it to node #2. Node #2 then only knows that node #1 sent it data and that it must send it to node #3. No node knows the entire line of communication or if where it’s sending it to is the final destination.
This in itself is not impossible to crack in regards to following a transaction from start to finish, so in addition to these multiple nodes, there are separate layers of encryption for the channels of communication between each node. This is what ensures anonymity.
Here's a great video that shows exactly how onion routing works

I can’t talk about Tor without giving this warning:

Only use Tor if you’re completely confident in your ability to navigate a space that is filled with hackers. Like it or not, Tor is a playground for them and if you don’t know any better you’ll probably end up exposing your computer and its data to others who are good at breaking in.

There’s a new privacy focused cryptocurrency out there called Deeponion, this one uses the Tor network to utilize this very type of encryption. There have been some concerns regarding the fact that this one was premined and the way in which the developer chose to distribute those coins, but regardless, it’s an interesting project to keep an eye on to see how it’s privacy features and community develop.

Additional Reading/Sources:

What is encryption
Why there is a stigma
History of Encryption
How to use encryption for your data
What is Onion Routing
Great Explanation & Visual of onion routing by Computerphile

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God bless you

Thanks for the information. Some people are even intimidated by tech words like encryption. Thanks for the refresher.

Heidi, I just wanted to thank you for consistently putting up high-quality posts. I almost wish I could say this in a private message, but too much of what I read on here on @Steemit is low quality. People just putting stuff together quickly. Some of it actually looks like it was copy and pasted, honestly. But you have an expertise and you take the time to share it here. Thank you. Keep it up. I try to also abide by those standards in my own writing. Cheers.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

I think it was good to mention the dangers of tor at the end, but it may have been better to encourage people to use it in a vm (e.g. with tails in virtualbox).

Anyway, Thanks for another great video!

Do you make more money from instagram than from youtube?
Why do you advertise your instagram profile rather than your youtube channel on your steemit profile?

I don't make any money from Instagram... I started out on Steemit as a travel blogger, since then I've moved on to crypto focused blogs. Since I still travel I wanted to share that side of me through my instagram profile.
All of the videos I post here on Steemit are already on Youtube, thought it'd be kind of redundant to promote that channel as well since you're getting that info plus more with the text I put in the posts here.

This makes some sense, and good to know, but Facebook (which owns Instagram) is more evil than Google, and since it pays you nothing, would it not be better if you promoted another internet presence of yours, which does pay you money?
Your "crypto" content is beneficial and well done, while documentation of traveling is not, so I am glad you made this move.

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Well I dont know but you are lovely, excuse the audacity

This comment has received a 13.99 % upvote from @steemdiffuser thanks to: @stimialiti. Steem on my friend!

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Thanks for the summary on encryption.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

I read a lot about incryption this post, and I did not have any idea about it before. You wrote many things beautifully and always have good videos

You always look so good :-) eye candy

Encryption is one of the coolest things in computer science. Sometimes it feels like magic, but it's just really kickass math.

A strange property of the physical universe that we live in. The universe believes in encryption. It is easier to encrypt information than it is to decrypt it.

Very complete research

How exactly would I be exposing myself to hackers by browsing with tor?

Always refreshing to take lessons from women :)

Holding crypto's, but not on a (reliable) wallet? Stop that! Inform yourself on the various crypto-wallets out there...

https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@nzfxtrader/top-5-best-cryptocurrency-wallets

Good article, a lot to choose from ...

Very interesting! This looks very promising.

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Good

Good content, quite interesting and very informative. Thanks a lot.

First to truly understand how a TOR Network works one has to understand how a non – TOR network works. In the current example we will take a simple act of web browsing (requesting google.com on your favorite browser), and see how data is transported currently.

you and your information and videos helped so much when I was learning about crypto back in november. Spent hours learning from you. Thx for the great info!

Nice poste thank you👏👏👏

Wow! What a great work. Well-done

Thanks for your research on this important topic.

Encryption is like a lock for protection.

I Know What is Encryption?
Reading ICT Book In This topic

Yeah! Encryption is the backbone of cryptography. Thanks for the cool lecture.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

I am a big Tor proponent, I like their other projects like stem and torrify for dark services.

Very interestig article, tnx for your work

Heidi a i see you are very sucesfull. And ideas how i could improve?

Hi... I love traveling and I’ve being doing it for the last 4 years... I’m starting to share some experiences but not so much audience... I would really appreciate if you can give some advice... this is the last traveler one I did https://steemit.com/blog/@lavidaesunviaje/how-i-started-traveling-and-where-it-took-me-to-happy-life
Let me know what you think!
Thanks!

Good stuff Heidi. How about a post on how to spend BTC in the fiat world, or BTC debit cards.

Really interesting, thanks for the quality of the post. I always wanted to know more about encryption

You may be familiar with the phrases public and private keys. In order to send or receive crypto coins to and from a wallet, you’ll need to know either your public or private key.

This has confirmed the fact that I love this platform the more and my enthusiasm for Steemit just keeps reviving with articles like this.
Yes, I am used to the terms "public and private keys". I am happy I am now conversant with these keys as well as the power of encryption.

Great info video about encrypting our info, needed now more than ever!! awesome sunset!

thumb03

everything is cool and post interesting 😄

Glad you covered this.. I feel like cryptocurrency is blurring the lines from the Darkweb to Mainstream use.. So it's important for people to understand the difference. Thanks Heidi!

Thanks for a very clear explanation, Heidi! I just joined 'steemit' yesterday by going through anon.steem and saw some 'onion' stuff at the bottom on the page. Now I know what it's about. By the way, I, too am traveling (in Vietnam right now) and am getting heavily into the crypto world. It's a strange world of contrasts, traveling in the 'real' world, then going back to the hotel and jumping in to the on-line crypto world... Look forward to reading more of your posts..

When using the internet, I think encryption is very important to help add an additional level of security. Interesting post with good information!

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Thanks for raising crypto awareness - it's super important for people to get a handle on it and you've done wonderful job explaining it - so thanks!
🎸