AES is a strong symmetric block cipher that encrypts data in 128-bit blocks. AES uses 128-bit, 192-bit, or 256-bit keys. DES and 3DES are block ciphers that encrypt data in 64-bit blocks. 3DES was originally designed as a replacement for DES, but NIST selected AES as the current standard. However, 3DES is still used in some applications, such as when legacy hardware doesn’t support AES.
