Cryptography is the process of turning plaintext into a coded text; formally known as a ciphertext. Encryption encapsulates data for transmission over the internet or to store data at rest. Asymmetric encryption is like developing a business relationship.
First, a secure communication channel must be established through the exchange of public keys. Exchanging business cards verifies identity and establishes trust, just like exchanging public keys in asymmetric cryptography. There must be an exchange of contact information before they can communicate virtually.
Once the public keys are exchanged, a secure connection can be established. From there, data communicates via symmetric encryption because it's faster and can support large amounts of data. In the analogy we're using, the business owners can now communicate without limitations.
Asymmetric encryption is used to establish trust and exchange keys, while symmetric encryption is used afterward to efficiently encrypt large amounts of data.
In practice, symmetric encryption is typically implemented using algorithms such as AES, which is the current industry standard. Older algorithms like DES and 3DES are considered insecure or deprecated and should no longer be used.
Asymmetric encryption relies on algorithms such as RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) for key exchange and identity verification. Diffie-Hellman is commonly used to securely exchange symmetric keys over an untrusted network without directly transmitting the key itself.
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