This is just a very quick introduction to AES-256 Encryption. The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), originally adopted by the U.S. federal government, has evolved to become an industry standard for securing data and needs to be part of every organization’s integrated risk management strategy. AES comes in 128-bit, 192-bit, and 256-bit implementations, with the 256-bit implementation being the most secure.

The algorithm described by AES is a symmetric-key algorithm, meaning the same key is used for both encrypting and decrypting the data. AES is included in the ISO/IEC 18033-3 standard.

AES is an open standard, which means it can be used for public, private, commercial, and non-commercial implementations.

The encryption has a key size of 256 bits, which is considered virtually uncrackable—even with the most advanced computing power and algorithms. It is also the same level of security used by banks and other financial institutions to protect sensitive customer information.

A full explanation of the algorithm is way beyond the scope of this post.