Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Symmetric-key encryption: the same key is used for both encryption and decryption. Symmetric-key algorithms [a] are algorithms for cryptography that use the same cryptographic keys for both the encryption of plaintext and the decryption of ciphertext. The keys may be identical, or there may be a simple transformation to go between the two keys. [1]
Asymmetric keys differ from symmetric keys in that the algorithms use separate keys for encryption and decryption, while a symmetric key’s algorithm uses a single key for both processes. Because multiple keys are used with an asymmetric algorithm, the process takes longer to produce than a symmetric key algorithm would.
Because asymmetric key algorithms are nearly always much more computationally intensive than symmetric ones, it is common to use a public/private asymmetric key-exchange algorithm to encrypt and exchange a symmetric key, which is then used by symmetric-key cryptography to transmit data using the now-shared symmetric key for a symmetric key ...
Examples of asymmetric systems include Diffie–Hellman key exchange, RSA (Rivest–Shamir–Adleman), ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography), and Post-quantum cryptography. Secure symmetric algorithms include the commonly used AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) which replaced the older DES (Data Encryption Standard). [15]
The algorithm described by AES is a symmetric-key algorithm, meaning the same key is used for both encrypting and decrypting the data. In the United States, AES was announced by the NIST as U.S. FIPS PUB 197 (FIPS 197) on November 26, 2001. [6]
Either symmetric key or asymmetric key techniques can be used in both schemes. [11] The Diffie–Hellman key exchange and Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) are the most two widely used key exchange algorithms. [12] In 1976, Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman constructed the Diffie–Hellman algorithm, which was
Public-key encryption was first described in a secret document in 1973; [15] beforehand, all encryption schemes were symmetric-key (also called private-key). [16]: 478 Although published subsequently, the work of Diffie and Hellman was published in a journal with a large readership, and the value of the methodology was explicitly described. [17]
In cryptography, key size or key length refers to the number of bits in a key used by a cryptographic algorithm (such as a cipher).. Key length defines the upper-bound on an algorithm's security (i.e. a logarithmic measure of the fastest known attack against an algorithm), because the security of all algorithms can be violated by brute-force attacks.