Data encryption in cloud in Cybersecurity - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Data Encryption in Cloud

📖 Scenario: You are working with a cloud storage service that holds sensitive user data. To protect this data, you need to encrypt it before uploading it to the cloud. Encryption transforms readable data into a secret code that only authorized users can decode.In this project, you will simulate the process of encrypting data using a simple method before storing it.

🎯 Goal: Build a simple data encryption setup that converts plain text into an encrypted form using a basic cipher technique. This will help you understand how data encryption works in cloud environments to keep information safe.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a dictionary called data_to_encrypt with three exact entries: 'username': 'cloudUser', 'password': 'safePass123', and 'email': '[e-mail]'.

Create a variable called encryption_key and set it to the integer 3.

Write a function called encrypt_text that takes a string and shifts each letter forward by the encryption_key positions in the alphabet (Caesar cipher). Non-letter characters should remain unchanged.

Create a new dictionary called encrypted_data that contains the encrypted versions of the values from data_to_encrypt using the encrypt_text function.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Encrypting data before uploading to cloud storage protects sensitive information from unauthorized access.

💼 Career

Understanding basic encryption techniques is essential for cybersecurity roles and cloud data protection.

1

Create the data dictionary

Create a dictionary called data_to_encrypt with these exact entries: 'username': 'cloudUser', 'password': 'safePass123', and 'email': '[e-mail]'.

Cybersecurity

# Create the dictionary data_to_encrypt with the specified entries
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use curly braces {} to create a dictionary with keys and values separated by colons.

2

Set the encryption key

Create a variable called encryption_key and set it to the integer 3.

Cybersecurity

data_to_encrypt = {
    'username': 'cloudUser',
    'password': 'safePass123',
    'email': '[e-mail]'
}
# Create the variable encryption_key and set it to 3
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Simply assign the number 3 to the variable encryption_key.

3

Write the encryption function

Write a function called encrypt_text that takes a string parameter called text and returns a new string where each letter is shifted forward by encryption_key positions in the alphabet (Caesar cipher). Letters should wrap around from 'z' to 'a'. Non-letter characters should remain unchanged.

Cybersecurity

def encrypt_text(text):
    result = ''
    for char in text:
        if char.isalpha():
            base = ord('A') if char.isupper() else ord('a')
            shifted = (ord(char) - base + encryption_key) % 26 + base
            result += chr(shifted)
        else:
            result += char
    return result
# Create encrypted_data dictionary below

Need a hint?

Use the ord() and chr() functions to shift letters. Check if a character is a letter with isalpha(). Keep other characters as they are.

4

Encrypt the data dictionary

Create a new dictionary called encrypted_data that contains the same keys as data_to_encrypt but with values encrypted by calling encrypt_text on each original value.

Cybersecurity

encrypted_data = {
key: encrypt_text(value) for key, value in data_to_encrypt.items()

Need a hint?

Use a dictionary comprehension to apply encrypt_text to each value in data_to_encrypt.