Glossary:Public key cryptography: Difference between revisions
(Created page with "Public key or asymmetric cryptography is a form of encryption using separate keys for encryption and decryption, neither of which can be derived from the other. The public key can be used to encrypt messages which only the holder of the corresponding private key can decrypt. Alternatively, the holder of a private key can "digitally sign" a message by encrypting a digest of the message with his private key. By successfully decrypting the digest with the previously publish...") |
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Public key or asymmetric cryptography is a form of encryption using separate keys for encryption and decryption, neither of which can be derived from the other. | Public key or asymmetric cryptography is a form of encryption using separate keys for encryption and decryption, neither of which can be derived from the other. Anyone can use the public key to encrypt a message which only the holder of the corresponding private key can decrypt. Alternatively, the holder of a private key can "digitally sign" a message by using it to encrypt a digest of the message, sent with the message itself. A recipient can prove the authorship of the message by successfully decrypting the digest using the author's previously published public key. Public key cryptography is computationally expensive so is often used simply to agree a [[Glossary:Symmetric cryptography|symmetric encryption]] key. | ||
Latest revision as of 21:50, 23 February 2024
Public key or asymmetric cryptography is a form of encryption using separate keys for encryption and decryption, neither of which can be derived from the other. Anyone can use the public key to encrypt a message which only the holder of the corresponding private key can decrypt. Alternatively, the holder of a private key can "digitally sign" a message by using it to encrypt a digest of the message, sent with the message itself. A recipient can prove the authorship of the message by successfully decrypting the digest using the author's previously published public key. Public key cryptography is computationally expensive so is often used simply to agree a symmetric encryption key.