Question:
asymetrical (public key) encryptation?
2010-11-23 21:36:12 UTC
a friend of mine began telling me about asymetrical public key encrypation. What is it and how would you start about making an algorithm for it?
Four answers:
JoelKatz
2010-11-23 21:44:27 UTC
It's used primarily when there is no shared secret between the two sides. The gist of asymmetric encryption is that the encryption operations and the decryption operation are fundamentally difference. So I can teach you how to encrypt without teaching you how to decrypt. (If you're interested in seeing an example of how this can be possible, study my second link which has a worked out example.)



You don't want to make your own algorithm. Not even experts get that right. You want to use an algorithm that been publicly known for a long time and been thoroughly investigated. Ideally, a few dozen people will have already written research papers on its strengths and weaknesses. That is the only way to justify relying on such an algorithm.



US and British cryptographers discovered public key encryption about 12 years before anyone else did. They didn't use it, though. They were too concerned that there might be security flaws that they couldn't find. The military uses such algorithms now, but only because they've been validated by multiple teams of experts.
Billy Bob
2010-11-23 21:44:23 UTC
Encryption is the process of disguising information to make it unreadable by those who lack the tools to decipher it. In asymmetric encryption, the tool you need is called a key, which is a secret number or text, like a password, that is known only to the person using it. Asymmetric encryption uses two keys: one key, called the encryption key, is used to code the message, and the other key, called the decryption key, is used to decode it. In asymmetric encryption, these keys are different, while in symmetric encryption, they are the same. In asymmetric encryption, the decryption key cannot be computed from the encryption key (at least not in any reasonable amount of time).

Asymmetric encryption is also called ‘public-key encryption’ because the encryption key can be made public. Anybody can use the encryption (public) key to encrypt a message, but only a specific person with the corresponding decryption (private) key can decrypt the message. As its name indicates, the private key is specific to a particular user or system and is kept private.

Asymmetric encryption systems are good for keeping information confidential: a message that a sender encrypts using the recipient's public key can only be decrypted by the recipient's paired private key.
_anonymous_
2010-11-23 21:50:36 UTC
in secret key cryptography, which is your classic "coding" scheme, there is only one key to both encrypt and decrypt the message



in public key cryptography, however, there are TWO keys which are paired together. anything encrypted with one key must be decrypted with the other key.



normally, a person has a "public key" and a "private key." he/she makes the public key known to everyone, and keeps the private key to him/herself. anyone wishing to send that person a message can encrypt it with the public key, and no one else can read it since it can only be decrypted with the private key. (this is the scheme used when you login to a website under a secure connection)



there are already many algorithms for public key encryption, the most widely used being RSA. note, however, that there is a lot of math involved, so hopefully you payed attention in class :D



wikipedia has a page on RSA with full details on its operation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSA



you might take some cues from this algorithm
2016-12-03 02:45:04 UTC
I paintings in an airport. i might'nt. you do no longer comprehend what's been on or in that lavatory!!. as long simply by fact the biggest ring have not got any id card. i might pass to my landlord and make copies off of his set!!!! i've got not got motor vehicle keys yet, if i did ( AAA).


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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