Data encryption goes back to ancient civilisations that used forms of message concealment, in peace as well as in wartime. The Egyptians used Disordered Hieroglyphics, the Greeks Steganography, the Spartans Scytale and the Romans, the Caesar Shift Cypher. While these basic methods laid the foundations for modern cryptography, what has evolved are two fundamental approaches based on complex mathematics: symmetric and asymmetric encryption.

Data encryption is a bit like insurance - we all know we need it (a necessary evil you might say), but it’s difficult to decide what we need to protect, and with an increasing amount of options out there, it’s a mission in itself to find the right provider. That’s probably why when we take out insurance we tend to only get coverage when we feel it’s absolutely necessary – for example, for our property, our cars and when we travel.

Schools and non-profits share the same problem when it comes to cybersecurity budgeting: limited resources which forces a choice between staff with the right expertise and effective tools that work for the organisation.