Encrypt given data using des cipher algo. DES (Data Encryption Standard) is a symmetric block cipher that uses a 56-bit key for encryption. Developed by IBM in the 1970s and standardized by NIST in 1977, DES was the most widely used block cipher for decades. DES is considered insecure today due to its short key length, vulnerable to brute-force attacks. It is no longer recommended for use. Our encryption process prepends the IV string used during the encryption process in the encrypted data so that it can be used during decryption.