Public Key
Public key is a type of cryptography that uses two keys, a public key and a private key, to encrypt and decrypt data. The public key is used to encrypt data, while the private key is used to decrypt it. The public key is made available to anyone who wants to send data to the owner of the private key, while the private key is kept secret and is used to decrypt the data. Public key cryptography is used to secure data transmission over the internet and is used in many applications such as digital signatures, secure email, and secure file transfers.
History of Public Key
Public key cryptography was first proposed by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman in 1976. They proposed a system in which two parties could communicate securely without having to share a secret key. This system was based on the concept of a public key and a private key. The public key is made available to anyone who wants to send data to the owner of the private key, while the private key is kept secret and is used to decrypt the data. Since then, public key cryptography has been used in many applications such as digital signatures, secure email, and secure file transfers.
Comparison of Public Key and Private Key
Public Key | Private Key |
---|---|
Used to encrypt data | Used to decrypt data |
Made available to anyone who wants to send data | Kept secret and used to decrypt the data |
Used in digital signatures, secure email, and secure file transfers | Used in digital signatures, secure email, and secure file transfers |
Summary
Public key is a type of cryptography that uses two keys, a public key and a private key, to encrypt and decrypt data. The public key is used to encrypt data, while the private key is used to decrypt it. Public key cryptography was first proposed by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman in 1976 and has since been used in many applications such as digital signatures, secure email, and secure file transfers. For more information about public key cryptography, you can visit websites such as Wikipedia, Cryptography World, and Crypto 101.
See Also
- Cryptography
- Digital Signature
- Secure Email
- Secure File Transfer
- Encryption
- Decryption
- Symmetric Key Cryptography
- Asymmetric Key Cryptography
- Public Key Infrastructure
- Private Key Infrastructure