Symmetric vs Asymmetric Encryption

As technology evolves, our life and data are getting more exposed on the internet. Whether in business, personal or academic life, protecting our sensitive data is the main reason why we need more investment in cybersecurity.

Cryptography has different types of algorithms, but the overall idea is to maintain good performance and continuous communication between several people simultaneously.

To introduce the subject, let's understand the concept of the word "key" in the world of cryptography: it literally means an element that will open another, i.e. a set of bits that will decipher another set of bits.

What is symmetric encryption?

Main characteristics

• Algorithm
• Single cryptographic key shared between sender and receiver.

Symmetric encryption, also known as secret key encryption, uses a single key to encrypt and decrypt data. You need to share this key with the recipient at some point. That represents a potential security breach, so it's important to monitor and protect it from malicious people.

One of the advantages of using this type of encryption is the initial didactics for those who are learning, because it is easier and does not present great difficulties in the development regardless of the language or framework

What is asymmetric encryption?

Main characteristics

• Algorithm
• Unique public key
• Distints private keys

Asymmetric encryption, also known as public key cryptography, is based on two types of security keys - private and public. The public key encrypts a message while the private key decrypts it and verifies the identity of a user due to its restricted access. So anyone who needs to share content with someone else only needs the public key of their recipient, who will use the private key to decrypt the message.

Asymmetric encryption is used to increase security and protection. For example, when you visit a HTTPS website or even when you connect to Linux via SSH.

One of the most famous algorithms is the RSA. This algorithm is based on the multiplication of prime numbers of large scale to generate a public key. If the number is well-chosen, the time required to break a key can become considerably large and difficult to achieve.

Why is encryption so important?

Cybercrime is big business. When even giant tech companies like Microsoft and Mailchimp suffer from data leak, protecting sensitive information should be every business' priority these days.

It is easy to discard cryptography with a single identical key, so the effectiveness of an encryption system will vary depending on the size of the key used. For example we have large systems like Google and Microsoft, where their public keys are secure and popular, using RSA-2048, which takes 300 trillion years to be decrypted. In other words, your safety depends on the algorithm behind it and the size of the key used.

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