Alex Osca11
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Nov 24, 2024
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Alex Oscar
Week 6 Chapter 11 & 12 Writing Assignment
12/03/2023
Professor: Michael Burt
Symmetric and asymmetric encryption are two common methods of encryption.
There is a fundamental distinction between the two types of encryption: symmetric encryption
utilizes a single key for both encryption and decryption, while asymmetric encryption uses a
single key for both encryption and decryption.
Symmetric encryption
This is regarded to be the most well-known and basic method of encrypting data. It employs the
same key for both encryption and decryption, as previously stated.
When sending large amounts of data, symmetric encryption is the recommended method
because the algorithm behind it is less complicated and runs faster.
A key is used to encrypt the plaintext, and the same key is used to decrypt the incoming
ciphertext at the receiving end. The key would have been sent to the host as part of the
communication process.
AES-128, AES-192, and AES-256 are some of the most widely used symmetric encryption
methods.
The Benefits of Symmetric Encryption
Exceptionally Safe
Symmetric key encryption can be extremely secure when used with a secure algorithm. The
United States has one of the most extensively utilized symmetric key encryption methods.
Advanced Encryption Standard, as designated by the government. It would take nearly a billion
years for a 10 petaflop computer to guess the key by brute-force attack if you used it with its
most secure 256-bit key length. 256-bit AES is virtually impenetrable since, as of November
2012, the world's fastest computer runs at 17 petaflops.
Relatively Quick
One of the disadvantages of public key encryption methods is that they require a lot of
arithmetic to work, therefore they're a lot of work to compute. It's relatively simple to encrypt
and decrypt symmetric key data, and you'll be able to read and write with ease. In fact, many
solid state drives, which are normally highly fast, use symmetric key encryption to store data
inside and are still faster than traditional hard drives that aren't encrypted at all.
Symmetric Encryption's Drawbacks
The Key to Success
With symmetric key encryption, the most significant issue is that you must be able to get the
key to the person with whom you want to share data. Passwords and encryption keys aren't the
same as basic strings of text. They're essentially a jumble of nonsense. As a result, you'll need a
secure mechanism to get the other party's key. You probably don't need to use encryption in
the first place if you have a secure means to distribute the key. As a result, when encrypting
your personal data rather than distributing encrypted data, symmetric key encryption is very
effective.
When Compromised, it does more harm.
When a symmetric key is obtained, it can be used to decode anything that has been encrypted
with it. When you use symmetric encryption for two-way communication, both sides of the
conversation are at risk of being hacked. With asymmetrical public-key encryption, someone
who has access to your private key can decrypt messages sent to you, but not messages sent to
the other party, because those messages are encrypted with a different key pair than the
messages sent to you.
Asymmetric encryption
When compared to symmetric encryption, this sort of encryption is also known as public-key
cryptography, and it is a relatively new type of encryption.
Because it employs two keys instead of one, asymmetric encryption is thought to be more
secure than symmetric encryption.
The public key that is used to encrypt data is public, but the private key is not.
In ordinary internet communication, this kind of encryption is employed. Only a private key can
be used to decrypt a communication that has been encrypted with a public key. A
communication can be decoded using a public key if it is encrypted using a private key.
In the client-server architecture, digital certificates can be used to find public keys.
This type of encryption has the disadvantage of taking longer than symmetric encryption to
complete.
RSA, DSA, and PKCS are some of the most widely used asymmetric encryption algorithms.
Asymmetric Encryption's Benefits
1. It helps you to authenticate your messages.
Because digital signatures can be used with public key encryption, message recipients will be
able to verify that messages are coming from a certain sender.
2. It's a good idea.
The challenge of distributing encryption keys is solved by asymmetric encryption, which allows
everyone to share their public keys while keeping their private keys hidden.
3. There is no possibility of retaliation.
Signed messages over the internet are similar to documents that are physically signed. It's
essentially like acknowledging a communication, and the sender won't be able to refute it.
4. Tampering is detected by it.
Communication recipients can determine if a message was altered in transit using digital
signatures in public key encryption.
Asymmetric Encryption's Drawbacks
1. It's a lengthy procedure.
Because this approach is slower than symmetric encryption, it is not suited for decrypting large
numbers of communications.
2. Its public keys aren't backed up by a password.
Because no one can be certain that a public key belongs to the person it says it belongs to, users
will have to double-check that their public keys are indeed theirs.
3. It could result in the loss of a private key, which could be irreversible.
Your received communications will not be decoded if you lose your private key.
4. It puts a lot of people's security at danger.
An attacker can see all of your messages if he or she has your private key.
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