A computing environment that is secure would not be complete without considering encryption technology. By definition, encryption pertains to the method of obscuring the meaning of certain pieces of message or information through encoding them it in a way that it can be decoded, read and understood only by the people intended to receive them. In simple terms, it is the method of encoding data to prevent unauthorized individuals from viewing and modifying it.
Protecting information by using simple codes can be traced back to the 5th century BC, and as time goes by, the method has become more secure but complex. After all, it is done to better provide high security levels for communication networks, stored files, emails and other types of data that require protection.
Together with symmetric encryption, another type is asymmetric encryption (also known as public key encryption), which is a technique of encrypting messages that uses two keys, namely the private and the public keys. In this method, textual data will be treated as a huge number that is raised to the power of second huge number and divided by a third huge number to produce a remainder. As for the remainder, it will be converted back into text to be able to produce encrypted messages. The private key is kept secret and is used to decrypt received messages, while the public key is made publicly available and is used to encrypt messages by an individual who wants to send messages to someone whom the key belongs to.
To determine whether or not asymmetric encryption is suitable to use, let us take a look at its pros and cons.
List of Pros of Asymmetric Encryption
1. It allows message authentication.
As public key encryption allows using digital signatures, message recipients will be able to verify messages to be truly coming from a particular sender.
2. It is convenient.
Asymmetric encryption solves the problem of distributing keys for encryption, with everyone publishing their public keys, while private keys being kept secret.
3. It allows for non-repudiation.
Digitally signed messages are like physically signed documents. Basically, it is like acknowledging a message, and therefore, the sender will not be able to deny it.
4. It detects tampering.
With digital signatures in public key encryption, message recipients can detect if a message was altered in transit.
List of Cons of Asymmetric Encryption
1. It is a slow process.
Public key encryption in this method is slow compared with symmetric encryption, which means that it is not suitable for decrypting bulk messages.
2. Its public keys are not authenticated.
Basically, no one absolutely knows that a public key belongs to the individual it specifies, which means that users will have to verify that their public keys truly belong to them.
3. It risks loss of private key, which may be irreparable.
When you lose your private key, your received messages will not be decrypted.
4. It risks widespread security compromise.
If your private key is identified by an attacker, all of your messages can be read by him/her.
To determine whether asymmetric encryption is a more secure solution for your communication needs, you should first understand its pros and cons. It is even recommended to use such method in conjunction with symmetric encryption.
Brandon Miller has a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a seasoned writer who has written over one hundred articles, which have been read by over 500,000 people. If you have any comments or concerns about this blog post, then please contact the Green Garage team here.