asymmetric cryptography


asymmetric cryptography

A very popular encryption method that uses two keys. When a message is sent to the only person entitled to view it, the recipient's public key is used by the sender to encrypt, and the recipient's secret key is used to decrypt.

With digital signatures, the sender's private key is used to encrypt a digest of the message, and the sender's public key is used to decrypt. See public key cryptography, digital signature and RSA.