Define the following as they pertain to encryption: plaintext, ciphertext, encryption algorithm, encryption key. Differentiate between private and public key encryption.

Question

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Answer 1

In the encryption process, the unencrypted, readable data is calledplaintext. The encrypted (scrambled) data is calledciphertext.?Anencryption algorithm, orcypher, is a set of steps that can convert readable plaintext into unreadable ciphertext. A simple encryption algorithm might switch the order of characters or replace characters with other characters. Encryption programs typically use more than one encryption algorithm, along with an encryption key.?Anencryption keyis a set of characters that the originator of the data uses to encrypt the plaintext and the recipient of the data uses to decrypt the ciphertext.?Two basic types of encryption are private key and public key. Withprivate key encryption, also calledsymmetric key encryption, both the originator and the recipient use the same secret key to encrypt and decrypt the data.Public key encryption, also calledasymmetric key encryption, uses two encryption keys: a public key and a private key. Public key encryption software generates both the private key and the public key. A message encrypted with a public key can be decrypted only with the corresponding private key, and vice versa. The public key is made known to message originators and recipients. For example, public keys may be posted on a secure webpage or a public-key server, or they may be emailed. The private key, by contrast, should be kept confidential.