#encryption

Security

Encoding vs encryption vs hashing: the cryptography basics every developer needs

Nadia Haddad · Jul 10, 2026 · 7 min read

Part 5 of the security fundamentals series. Encoding, encryption, hashing, MACs and digital signatures compared by purpose and reversibility, symmetric versus asymmetric keys, and how TLS combines them all in one connection.

Security

Why shred does not reliably erase files on SSDs and modern filesystems, and what to do instead

Grace Liu · Nov 29, 2025 · 7 min read

Many runbooks still say to run shred on sensitive files before deleting them. On SSDs, copy-on-write filesystems and cloud volumes, overwriting in place often leaves the old data elsewhere. Why, and the methods that work: encryption, crypto-erase and device sanitize commands.