02-08-2016, 11:56 AM
In cryptography the only need of high importance is
security of data[1].Few ways to achieve it is through public
key cryptography(PKC),secret key cryptography(SKC) and
using hash functions. Generic PKC employs two keys that
are mathematically related although knowledge of one key
does not allow someone to easily determine the other key.
One key is used to encrypt the plaintext and the other key is
used to decrypt the ciphertext(encrypted data). Because a
pair of keys are required, this approach is also called
asymmetric cryptography. The important point here is that
it does not matter which key is applied first, but that both
keys are required for the process to work. In SKC, a single
key is used for both encryption and decryption. Sender uses
the key (or some set of rules) to encrypt the plaintext and
sends the ciphertext to the receiver. The receiver applies
the same key to decrypt the message and recover the
plaintext. Because a single key is used for both functions,
SKC is also called symmetric encryption. With this form of
cryptography, it is obvious that the key must be known to
both the sender and the receiver; that, in fact, is the secret.
security of data[1].Few ways to achieve it is through public
key cryptography(PKC),secret key cryptography(SKC) and
using hash functions. Generic PKC employs two keys that
are mathematically related although knowledge of one key
does not allow someone to easily determine the other key.
One key is used to encrypt the plaintext and the other key is
used to decrypt the ciphertext(encrypted data). Because a
pair of keys are required, this approach is also called
asymmetric cryptography. The important point here is that
it does not matter which key is applied first, but that both
keys are required for the process to work. In SKC, a single
key is used for both encryption and decryption. Sender uses
the key (or some set of rules) to encrypt the plaintext and
sends the ciphertext to the receiver. The receiver applies
the same key to decrypt the message and recover the
plaintext. Because a single key is used for both functions,
SKC is also called symmetric encryption. With this form of
cryptography, it is obvious that the key must be known to
both the sender and the receiver; that, in fact, is the secret.
