text: Depending on the nature of the business, the entire advantage likely lies in the information the business has.  Information about the product, information about the industry, information about the customer.\n\nInformation really is what determines the success or failure of a company.  With that, it's clear why the information needs to be protected. As it is currently there is no "perfect" protection.  All two-way encryption methods can be deciphered, however some much more easily than others.\n\nBottom line, the better the encryption, the less likely you are to have your information discovered and (in the worst case) used against you.