{"id":596,"date":"2019-08-22T21:06:56","date_gmt":"2019-08-22T21:06:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/?p=596"},"modified":"2021-07-23T11:04:27","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T11:04:27","slug":"what-is-public-key-and-private-key-cryptography-and-how-does-it-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/what-is-public-key-and-private-key-cryptography-and-how-does-it-work\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Public Key and Private Key Cryptography, and How Does It Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Public key cryptography and private key cryptography refer to two different encryption schemes that serve two vastly different functions. In this article, we\u2019ll give a quick overview of both, as well as what they\u2019re used for.<\/p>\n<h2>Breaking Down Public Key and Private Key Cryptography<\/h2>\n<h3>What is Private Key Cryptography?<\/h3>\n<p>Private key encryption is the original type of encryption. Dating back to the advent of cryptography, private key cryptosystems were the first and continue to be the most common. When using private key cryptography, both parties much each possess, or at least exchange the <a href=\"https:\/\/searchsecurity.techtarget.com\/definition\/private-key\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">private key<\/a>. The word \u201ckey\u201d can be a bit misleading \u2014 the key itself is really just the cipher that\u2019s used to scramble and unscramble the data being encrypted.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>With an ancient cipher, like the Caesar cipher, the private key was simply a number that corresponded to the number each alphabetical character needed to be shifted. In current digital encryption schemes, the keys are now prohibitively difficult algorithms that no modern computer could ever efficiently crack.<\/p>\n<p>The one thing that remains the same with all private key systems is that the same key can both encrypt and decrypt. Private key encryption is sometimes called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/computing\/computers-and-the-internet\/xcae6f4a7ff015e7d:online-data-security\/xcae6f4a7ff015e7d:data-encryption-techniques\/a\/symmetric-encryption-techniques\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">symmetric encryption<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-598 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/private-key-encryption.png\" alt=\"Graphic: Private key encryption\" width=\"624\" height=\"334\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/private-key-encryption.png 624w, https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/private-key-encryption-300x161.png 300w, https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/private-key-encryption-500x268.png 500w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 624px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 624\/334;\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>What is Private Key Cryptography Used for?<\/h3>\n<p>Public key cryptography, in the context of SSL\/TLS, is used for the actual communication portion of the connection. Each party derives the key during the handshake and then uses it to both encrypt and decrypt all data that\u2019s transmitted between them.<\/p>\n<p>Private key encryption, or symmetric encryption, uses smaller keys that are easier to compute with. These still provide adequate computational hardness, but don\u2019t tax the client and server as much to use. Especially at scale, this is extremely important and the biggest advantage of symmetric encryption.<\/p>\n<h3>What is Public Key Cryptography?<\/h3>\n<p>Public key cryptography is actually a fairly recent creation, dating back to 1973, it uses a public\/private key pair. The keys are <a href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/blog\/what-is-asymmetric-encryption-understand-with-simple-examples\/\">asymmetric<\/a>, the public key is actually derived from the private key. It can be used to encrypt while the private key can be used to decrypt. The public key is also capable of verifying signatures left by the private key.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-599 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/public-key-encryption.png\" alt=\"Graphic: Public key encryption\" width=\"643\" height=\"320\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/public-key-encryption.png 643w, https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/public-key-encryption-300x149.png 300w, https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/public-key-encryption-500x249.png 500w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 643px) 100vw, 643px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 643px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 643\/320;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/blog\/private-key-and-public-key-explained\/\">Public\/Private key pairs<\/a> are generally much larger than their symmetric counterparts. That\u2019s because public key cryptography is kind of like the gatekeeper, it needs to be sufficiently robust to protect the website and the connections it\u2019s making. Public key cryptography is primarily used for two things:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Authentication<\/li>\n<li>Key Exchange<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These are both performed during the <a href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/blog\/what-is-ssl-tls-handshake-understand-the-process-in-just-3-minutes\/\">handshake<\/a>. They\u2019re critical functions. A large key makes it harder to manipulate these functions. Once the public key cryptography is done the two parties have authenticated and exchanged keys. Now it\u2019s simply a matter of actually communicating. The size of the key, though still plenty secure, can be reduced to increase performance.<\/p>\n<h3>What is Public Key Cryptography Used For?<\/h3>\n<p>As we just covered it handles authentication and key exchange. Public key cryptography was first developed as a mechanism to securely exchange an encryption key via an insecure channel. The first guys to nail it were Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman (with an assist from Ralph Merkle) \u2014 they created the eponymous Diffie-Hellman key exchange scheme.<\/p>\n<div class=\"graysection\">\n<h2>Purchase a Wildcard SSL Certificate &amp; Save Up to 73%!<\/h2>\n<p>We offer the best discount on all types of wildcard SSL Certificates with DV and OV validation. We offer wildcard certificates from the leading CAs, including Comodo CA, Sectigo, Thawte, GeoTrust, and RapidSSL starting for as little as $52.95 per year.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"comparebtn\" href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/sslproducts\/cheap-wildcard-ssl-certificates.html\">Shop Cheap Wildcard SSL Certificates<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Diffie-Hellman lacked authentication, though, and Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adleman figured if you\u2019re going to send an encryption key to someone, it might be good to make sure you know who that someone is. Thus, the birth of RSA, which could both securely pass the key and authenticate the entity it was passing it to.<\/p>\n<p>Diffie-Hellman was later paired with digital signature algorithm (DSA) to create a key exchange\/authentication combination \u2014 a variant of which has now replaced RSA in TLS 1.3.<\/p>\n<p>Quickly, let\u2019s go through how this works:<\/p>\n<h4>RSA<\/h4>\n<p>With RSA, there are two functions being performed simultaneously. The client first encrypts a bit of information using the public key and sends it to the server, which decrypts it using the private key. Both parties use that information to derive the session key (a symmetric, private key that will be used to communicate). When the client encrypts that data, the pre-master secret, it will also authenticate the server when it proves it has the corresponding private key to decrypt it with. Once this is complete, the two parties can begin communicating with the session key that was passed.<\/p>\n<h4>Diffie-Hellman\/DSA<\/h4>\n<p>Nowadays in <a href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/blog\/tls-1-3-everything-you-need-to-know\/\">TLS 1.3<\/a>, all key exchange has to be an ephemeral Diffie-Hellman family paired with Elliptic Curve DSA, also known as ECDSA. The way it handles key exchange actually doesn\u2019t even count as public key encryption \u2014 the only public key cryptography involved is when the digital signature is verified.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how it works. With Diffie-Hellman, both parties exchange randomly generated bits of data. There\u2019s a logarithmic function that takes place and both parties are able to use that data, despite passing it insecurely, to derive the same secure session key. No encryption takes place in its passing, as you see in RSA, hence it\u2019s not technically public key encryption.<\/p>\n<p>The part that <em>is<\/em> public key encryption comes with the digital signature \u2014 once the keys have been exchanged, the server takes the entire handshake, encrypts it with the private key, and digitally signs it. The client uses the public key to verify the signature, which proves key ownership and authenticates the server.<\/p>\n<p>Voila! That\u2019s private and public key cryptography explained.<\/p>\n<p>If you haven&#8217;t already done so, get an SSL certificate for your website to facilitate a secure, encrypted connection for your users.<\/p>\n<div class=\"graysection\">\n<h2>Purchase a DV SSL Certificate &amp; Save Up to 88%!<\/h2>\n<p>We offer the best discount on all types of Domain Validation SSL Certificates (DV SSL). We offer certificates from the leading CAs, including Comodo CA, Sectigo, Thawte, GeoTrust, and RapidSSL with DV certificates starting as low as $5.45 per year.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"comparebtn\" href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/sslproducts\/domainvalidatedssl.html\">Shop DV SSL Certificates<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Public key cryptography and private key cryptography refer to two different encryption schemes that serve two vastly different functions. In this article, we\u2019ll give a quick overview of both, as well as what they\u2019re used for. Breaking Down Public Key &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/what-is-public-key-and-private-key-cryptography-and-how-does-it-work\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[22,51,39,50],"class_list":["post-596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ssl-advanced","tag-private-key","tag-private-key-cryptography","tag-public-key","tag-public-key-cryptography"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is Public Key and Private Key Cryptography, and How Does It Work?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Public key and private key cryptography refer to two different encryption schemes with different functions. Here&#039;s what they are &amp; how they&#039;re used.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/what-is-public-key-and-private-key-cryptography-and-how-does-it-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is Public Key and Private Key Cryptography, and How Does It Work?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Public key and private key cryptography refer to two different encryption schemes with different functions. 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