The Answer: Encryption

As most of you are well aware, encryption is a process used to protect information in transit and storage, including sensitive data processed and stored through networks, the Internet, and mobile and wireless systems. It uses an algorithmic scheme to transform plain text information into a non-readable form called ciphertext. The reverse process, decryption, decodes the information from its encrypted form back to plain text. To prevent unauthorized access to plain text data, the mathematical algorithm requires a secret value, called a key, in order to encrypt or decrypt the data properly.

Cloud encryption is used to safeguard sensitive information stored and processed through networks, the Internet, and mobile and wireless devices. In the cloud, encryption algorithms are used to protect outgoing data, so that information is not vulnerable once it's outside an enterprise. Data encryption is commonly used to achieve compliance with industry regulations, including HIPAA and PCI DSS and is an essential cloud data security tool for organizations using popular SaaS applications.