What happens when you lose an encryption key?

What happens if you lose your encryption key?

It's that simple — without your key, you might as well not own any cryptocurrency or be part of any blockchain. As you can imagine, then, losing a key is a pretty big deal. Worse still is the possibility of having your key stolen, allowing a hacker access to your private information and possibly large amounts of money.

Can lost encryption keys be retrieved?

When data is stored in encrypted form, you must have the private key that corresponds to the public key that was used to encrypt the data in order to decrypt and read it. If the private key is lost, the data cannot be retrieved.

Where can I find my encryption key?

Check your device manual for supported encryption protocols. The default encryption key may be located on the bottom of your router or in the manual, depending on the router manufacturer. You can locate the encryption key when you log into the router setup page, if you have created your own encryption key.

Is an encryption key the same as a password?

An encryption key is not the same as a password. The main difference between the two is that a password is created, read, and remembered by a human user, while a key is used by the software that implements the algorithm, meaning it does not have to be readable by a human.