Public Key Cryptography

Public Key Cryptography

Public key encryption also known as asymmetric encryption uses two different keys: a public key and a private key. All authorized users know the public key, but only one person – its owner, knows the private key.

The private key is generated at the owners’ computer and is not sent to anyone. To send a message safely using public key cryptography, the sender encrypts the message with the receivers’ public key. This requires the public key be delivered in advance.

The message decrypted in this manner can be decrypted with the receivers’ private key. The most popular algorithm with public key cryptography is the RSA (Rivest, Shamir, Adelman) with various keys sizes like 1024 bits.

This algorithm is never been broken by the hackers hence this is considered as the safest algorithm.