Asymmetric Encryption in 250 words or less

Let’s say two users want to securely share information with one another. They could use symmetric encryption, but consider it to be too risky to share the same secret key via email or over the phone. Someone might be eavesdropping!

So, they decide to use asymmetric encryption. Our users, Jack and Ryan, each create their own public and private key pair. Ryan has the sensitive data so he’ll encrypt the data, send it to Jack, and Jack will decrypt the data.

1. Jack sends his public key (in this case the green key) to Ryan
2. Ryan encrypts the data with Jack’s public key. The encrypted data is called cipher text.
3. Ryan sends the encrypted data to Jack via email or some other electronic means.
4. Jack receives the message with the encrypted data.
5. Jack uses his private key (the pink key) to decrypt the cipher text.

The public and private keys are mathematically related. In essence, data that is encrypted with the public key can only be decrypted by the related private key. This means that you can share your public key with other people, send it via email and not worry if the public key has been compromised because it’s the private key that can decrypt the message.

#Cybersecurity #Encryption #AsymmetricEncryption