What is the purpose of Encryption in data security?

Encryption plays a critical role in data security by converting sensitive data into a format that is unreadable to unauthorized users. This process ensures that even if the data is intercepted or accessed by individuals who do not have the appropriate permissions, they cannot make sense of it without the proper decryption keys or mechanisms.

The primary goal of encryption is to protect the confidentiality and integrity of data, particularly when it is stored on systems or transmitted over networks that might be vulnerable to attacks or unauthorized access. By rendering the data incoherent to any unauthorized parties, encryption acts as a robust barrier against data breaches, identity theft, and other malicious activities.

To provide context about why the other options do not serve as the main purposes of encryption: converting data into a visual format does not protect the data and may even expose it; facilitating easier data storage is more related to data management strategies rather than security; and while database performance is important, encryption generally adds overhead that can impact performance rather than enhance it. Therefore, the fundamental purpose of encryption is to ensure that sensitive data is safeguarded from unauthorized access, making option B the correct choice.